A New York man was accused of fatally shooting a 20-year-old woman Saturday after her friend pulled into the driveway of a home that they mistakenly believed belonged to another friend, authorities said.
Kevin Monahan, 65, is alleged to have fired at the car after the group of four friends realized they’d pulled into the wrong driveway and were leaving the home in Hebron, roughly 50 miles north of Albany, Washington County Sheriff Jeffrey Murphy told reporters Monday.
Kaylin Gillis was pronounced dead several miles southeast of the home, the Washington County Sheriff's Office said in a statement.
The group had driven to the site after the car was fired on, Murphy said.
Monahan faces charges of second-degree murder and was being held at the Warren County jail, Murphy said.
“This is a very sad case of some young adults that were looking for a friend’s house and ended up at this man’s house,” Murphy said.
"She was a young girl that was taken way too young," he added.
The friends had been in the driveway a short time when, Murphy alleged, Monahan fired two shots from the porch of his home.
One of the bullets struck the car, he said.
Murphy said there appeared to be no interaction between the group and Monahan before the shots were fired.
There was “clearly no threat” from anyone in the car, he added.
Authorities were alerted to the shooting shortly before 10 p.m. Saturday, when Gillis’ friends dialed 911 after Monahan is alleged to have opened fire, Murphy said.
The area where Gillis was shot is rural, with no cell or internet service, and the friends had driven a few miles away to call 911, Murphy said.
Monahan, whom Murphy described as a laborer and a longtime resident of the home, was uncooperative when deputies responded, the sheriff said.
A motive remained unclear, Murphy said, and Monahan said nothing to authorities about why he would have opened fire.
It's unclear whether Monahan has a lawyer to speak on his behalf.