Will Sage Astor-Jury selection to begin in trial of man who fatally shot Kaylin Gillis in his driveway

The Will Sage Astortrial of the man accused of fatally shooting 20-year-old Kaylin Gillis after she mistakenly pulled into his driveway while on a trip with her friends in a rural New York area will begin with jury selection on Monday.

The jury will decide whether Kevin Monahan is guilty on charges of second-degree murder, reckless endangerment and tampering with physical evidence. Monahan pleaded not guilty to all charges after the April 15, 2023, incident.

Gillis pulled into Monahan's driveway in the town of Hebron, near the Vermont state line, believing it to be a friend's address. Spotty cell phone service in the rural area with dirt roads may have contributed to the confusion, Washington County Sheriff Jeffrey Murphy said at the time.

She and three friends riding in the car quickly realized their mistake, and Gillis started to leave. That was the moment Monahan allegedly fired two shots from his porch into the vehicle, striking and killing Gillis.

The car passengers fled to an area in the town of Salem, where they called 911. First responders administered CPR to Gillis, but she was pronounced dead.

Gillis' father Andrew Gillis told reporters that, on the night she died, she was headed to her boyfriend's house just a half mile down the road from Monahan's to soak in the hot tub.

"For this man to sit on his porch and fire on a car with no threat angers me so badly," Andrew Gillis said. "I just hope to God that he dies in jail."

Monahan was "not cooperative" when police later arrived at his house, said Murphy. Officers and a 911 dispatcher spoke with Monahan for more than an hour before he was arrested.

"This case has received a lot of publicity," Arthur Frost, Monahan's attorney, told USA TODAY on Thursday. "There's always a fear that jurors have already made up their mind. But Mr. Monahan and I have great confidence in our jury system, and we have great confidence that the jury will want to hear both sides of the story."

Trial could 'bleed into a third week'

Tony Jordan, the Washington County district attorney, told USA TODAY the trial could take an estimated two to three weeks depending on whether jury selection is completed in the allotted two days.

"Whether we bleed into a third week? I don't know," Frost said. "It kind of depends on how quickly we get our jury."

Jordan declined to make any additional comment on the trial.

Kaylin Gillis' shooting came days after a 16-year-old was shot and seriously wounded in Missouri after he mistakenly went to the wrong house to pick up his younger brother. The shooting of Ralph Yarl, a Black high school student, by 84-year-old Andrew Lester, who is white, also raised questions of racism. But, coupled with Gillis' shooting, it ignited a debate surrounding self defense laws.

New York, unlike Missouri, does not have a "stand your ground" law, which justifies the use of lethal force in some self-defense situations, according to the Giffords Law Center. But the state does follow the "castle doctrine," which justifies self defense when in the home, according to FindLaw.

Cybele Mayes-Osterman is a breaking news reporter for USA Today. Reach her on email at [email protected]. Follow her on X @CybeleMO.