Emotions ran high as Kevin Monahan was led out of the courtroom Friday, moments after the 66-year-old was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for fatally shooting Kaylin Gillis last spring.
Monahan, 66, was convicted on three charges in January by a Washington County jury. It stemmed from the shooting death of 20-year-old Gillis in Monahan’s driveway last spring after police say she and a group of friends got lost.
“You don’t take any responsibility for the outcome of your actions,” Washington County Court Judge Adam Michelini said before imposing the maximum penalty. “You senselessly took the life of Kaylin Gillis and you have the gall to sit here and talk about how you plan to finish up work on your house and race motocross in the future. You don’t deserve that.”
“Our entire family has been shattered… Our hope is that your actions will haunt you for the rest of your life.” -Andrew Gillis
— Spencer Conlin (@SpencerReports) March 1, 2024
Dressed in a striped jumpsuit and handcuffed, Kevin Monahan looked on without any dispaly of emotion.
The sentence came after the court heard about 15 minutes of victim impact statements from Gillis’ father, Andrew, her boyfriend, Blake Walsh, who was driving the night of April 15, 2023, and her close friend, Alexandria Whiting, who was in the backseat the night of the shooting.
Andrew Gillis told the court his family is shattered by the loss of Kaylin. He also addressed Monahan, saying, “Our hope is that your actions haunt you for the rest of your life.”
Walsh and Whiting told the court their lives have been forever changed. Whiting said she lives in constant fear.
Washington County Assistant District Attorney Christian Morris joined in calling for the maximum penalty.
“I cannot petition the court for the death penalty. It’s gone. So as Alexandria Whiting just said up there, he gets to live his life every single day. What a mercy, what a mercy extended to him, undeserving.”
Art Frost, Monahan’s lead defense attorney, did not ask the judge for a specific sentence but suggested it not be the maximum.
“I’ve seen his remorse," Frost said. "He lives with the fact, he lives with knowing that because of his actions, under anyway you view them, because of his actions, this poor young woman is dead.”
In January, a jury needed less than two hours to find Monahan guilty of second-degree murder, reckless endangerment and tampering with physical evidence.
While Morris said he expected an appeal in the case, he also said his office intended to seek the maximum penalty for a second-degree murder charge, which is what was handed down Friday morning. Monahan also received sentences of 2 1/3 years for the reckless endangerment charge and 1 1/3 years for tampering with physical evidence; all sentences will run concurrently.
Frost, who said there was never going to be a happy ending with the trial, has already filed an intent to appeal, but said he will not be a part of those proceedings.