The man convicted in the 2023 killing of Kaylin Gillis has filed an appeal citing an unfair trial.
Kevin Monahan was sentenced to 25 years to life in March 2024 for the death of 20-year-old Schuylerville resident Kaylin Gillis.
Gillis and friends had mistakenly pulled into the winding driveway of Monahan’s Hebron home in April 2023 – Monahan exited his home and fired his shotgun twice at the two SUVs and motorcycle that had entered his rural driveway while looking for a party down the road.
At sentencing, Judge Adam Michelini addressed Monahan directly.
“Your first instinct was to lie about what happened, and you repeatedly lied in such a cold and calculating manner. And the jury saw right through your lies, and they rejected them. In killing Kaylin Gillis, you took away a friend, you took away a girlfriend, you took away a daughter, a granddaughter, and a sibling. You took away so much unrealized potential. Her potential to enrich other people’s lives and to contribute to our society,” said Michelini.
Now, 67-year-old Monahan is mounting an appeal of his conviction.
“The prosecutor only proved that a shotgun was discharged twice. There is no context that would elevate, assuming it is reckless, which is what the prosecution aimed to show. Assuming they proved it was reckless there is no additional proof that it was depraved too,” said attorney Matthew Hug.
Attorney Matthew Hug says Monahan’s behavior did not meet the standard of “depraved indifference.”
“It’s much like the defendant threw a rock off of a highway overpass and that’s it and there’s no context of the busy highway. Or the defendant let the lion out at the zoo but there’s no proof as to whether the zoo was open or was busy. So, the prosecution was essentially trying to kill two birds with one stone by pointing to one act without the context that would make it depraved. As opposed to intentional, or as opposed to as the defense presented, that at worst it was a negligent act and was potentially completely accidental,” said Hug.
In trial, Monahan’s attorneys maintained that he fired one warning shot and the second shot, which would kill Gillis, was the result of an accidental discharge when Monahan tripped on a nail on his deck hitting his gun against a railing.
Hug also cites the judge’s refusal to allow the jury to consider a lighter charge of criminally negligent homicide as a reason for appeal.
“It’s well settled that if you view the evidence in the light most favorable to the defendant and if in viewing the evidence in that light the lesser included offense could be made out then it must be charged. And the failure to do that deprives the defendant to his right to due process i.e. his right to a fair trial,” said Hug.
Monahan’s attorneys made several attempts to call for a mistrial, all rejected by the court. Hug says there’s an argument to be made they should have been accepted.
“During the course of the body cam footage you can hear Mr. Monahan utter that he is speaking to [Kurt] Mausert who was on the defense team he was the initial attorney for Mr. Monahan. And what the defense argued was, ‘look the jury is clearly aware of who Kurt Mausert is because he’s been sitting at the defense table and introduced himself at the beginning of the case and there’s not question that that was audible in the video and by playing evidence of his invocation of counsel deprived him—was a violation of that right to counsel and deprived him from a fair trial,’” said Hug.
The appeal also finds issue with Monahan’s additional conviction of tampering with evidence. Prosecutors say Monahan had concealed a discarded shotgun shell since it was not found at the scene. Hug’s appeal says the prosecution fell short of proving Monahan actually tampered with evidence.
The 80-page appeal closes by calling Monahan’s sentence “harsh and excessive.” At sentencing, Gillis’ father said Monahan would likely die in prison. The appeal reads “in practical terms, the sentence functions not as an indeterminate term with life as the maximum, but as a de facto determinate life sentence.”
Hug argues an absence of any prior criminal history and Monahan’s age should mitigate his sentence.
The Washington County’s District Attorney’s office did not immediately respond to WAMC’s request for comment Wednesday.
