Shootings of young people who went to wrong houses draw attention to stand your ground laws

Table Of Content

• National News
• What we know about the killing of the N.Y. woman who was shot after pulling into the wrong driveway
• Texas Teens Shot After Getting Into Wrong Car in Parking Lot After Cheerleading Practice
• College student killed trying to enter wrong house at 2 a.m., police say
• KCAL News Investigations
• El Camino Real Charter High School wins national Academic Decathlon
• Man Charged With Murder in Shooting of Woman Who Went Up Wrong Driveway
• people shot in downtown Los Angeles, prompting search for multiple suspects

Walsh said those in the car were "frantic" and "screaming," and when he "asked in the car if everyone was okay," he realized that Gillis was "slumped over the door side of the vehicle" and not responding, according to WRGB. Gillis was from Schuylerville, N.Y., about 20 miles southwest of where she and her friends were located when they were shot at. The incident occurred just two days after 16-year-old Ralph Yarl was shot and injured in Kansas City, Mo., when he went to the wrong house to pick up his siblings. Andrew D. Lester, an 84-year-old White man, was charged with felony assault and armed criminal action.

National News

"There was clearly no threat from anyone in the vehicle," Murphy added. As was the case in Kansas City, Murphy said there appeared to have been no interaction between the group and Monahan before the shots were fired. The attorney Ben Crump, who is representing the Yarl family, called the charges “appropriate,” but told Yahoo News that his arrest was long overdue. The homeowner and group of friends in the car did not interact, Murphy said. Rondeau told the jury that she was leading the group of friends to what she thought was the house of a friend hosting the party.

What we know about the killing of the N.Y. woman who was shot after pulling into the wrong driveway

Short on cellphone signal, her friends drove 5 miles to the town of Salem to call 911. Emergency responders performed CPR on Gillis but she was pronounced dead on the scene. Kaylin Gillis and three of her friends were trying to find another friend's house in rural Hebron, N.Y., when they mistakenly pulled up to the house owned by Kevin Monahan, according to Sheriff Jeffrey J. Murphy.

Texas Teens Shot After Getting Into Wrong Car in Parking Lot After Cheerleading Practice

He also established that most of the friends did not notice the private property sign by the driveway. Gillis' friends called for help once they found a cellphone signal several miles away. Meanwhile, Haynes kept his hand on Gillis' neck wound to stop the bleeding. A dispatcher guided the friends through CPR while they waited for help to arrive. During his testimony, Walsh choked up as recalled pulling up next to the Jeep driven by his friend Katherine Rondeau to tell her about Gillis. Walsh said he heard a sound like metal breaking in the car upon the second shot.

He told jurors Friday he saw a motorcycle come all the way up the driveway, felt threatened by the presence of the two other vehicles and thought he was being blocked in, the station reported. Monahan testified at trial that he felt threatened by the appearance of the motorcycle and other vehicles, turned on his floodlights and grabbed a 20-gauge shotgun, according to the station. The killing affected not only the young woman's family but also her friends who were there, he said. Kevin Monahan, 66, was found guilty Tuesday of second-degree murder, reckless endangerment and tampering in the driveway shooting trial.

KCAL News Investigations

Ralph Yarl, a 16-year-old Black boy, was shot in Kansas City, Mo., on Thursday night after he rang the doorbell at a home where he believed he was to pick up his two siblings. Friends of Gillis and her distraught family were still in disbelief over the fatal gun violence. The area where the shooting took place is very rural with many dirt roads where it’s “easy to get lost,” Murphy said. Frost, who argues Monahan felt threatened, focused on how the two vehicles were briefly stopped next to each other on the driveway during cross examinations.

The killing happened just days after the shooting of 16-year-old Ralph Yarl in Kansas City. Yarl, who is Black, was wounded by an 84-year-old white man after he went to the wrong door while trying to pick up his brother. Walsh and a group of his friends testified in the second-degree murder trial of Kevin Monahan, 66, who is charged with fatally shooting Gillis. Many fought back tears as they spoke, according to CBS affiliate WRGB. On a Saturday night last April, the couple and their group of friends drove into the wrong driveway in Hebron, some 40 miles north of Albany, near the Vermont border.

Man Charged With Murder in Shooting of Woman Who Went Up Wrong Driveway

When officers arrived at Monahan’s house to investigate the shooting, he refused to come out and was uncooperative, 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 who decided to come out with a firearm and discharge," Murphy said. Mausert did not disclose what those errors were and Monahan has not said anything to authorities about why he opened fire. The sheriff said the suspect, described as a laborer and a longtime resident of the home, was uncooperative when deputies responded.

A New York man is accused of fatally shooting a woman who pulled into the wrong driveway - NBC News

A New York man is accused of fatally shooting a woman who pulled into the wrong driveway.

Posted: Tue, 18 Apr 2023 07:00:00 GMT [source]

The shootings sparked anguish and soul-searching on social media, as people noted that the young victims were shot while making a mundane mistake — going to the wrong house. The South Carolina shooting may be the latest in a string of such incidents that have occurred when people mistakenly find themselves on the wrong porch or driveway. While officials were still on their way, “the emergency call for service was upgraded to a shots fired call,” the statement said. A 20-year-old college student was fatally shot Saturday after trying to enter the wrong house on the street where he lived, police said. Two shootings of young people who mistakenly showed up at the wrong houses in two separate states have attracted national attention — and could renew the debate over the rights of those seeking to protect their property.

Kaylin Gillis, 20, was fatally shot all because the group took a wrong turn and ended up in the wrong driveway of the wrong home. It was a Saturday night and a group of friends were going to visit another friend. The sheriff described Monahan as uncooperative, saying he initially refused to come out of the house before peacefully surrendering after about an hour. "Our family will never be the same but we will be guided by Kaylin's positivity, optimism, and joy as we learn to live with her loss." One of the bullets struck the rear of the car Gillis was in and hit her, causing a fatal injury, Murphy said.

Authorities on Sunday were responding to downtown Los Angeles following an officer-involved shooting. The raid was in connection with a pursuit and gun battle which left an innocent bystander dead in Compton. Sheriff's homicide detectives were investigating a shooting Sunday by at least one deputy in East Los Angeles that left one man dead. Osteen told parishioners it has been a difficult time with "a lot of trauma."

The group drove to the neighboring town of Salem, northeast of Albany near the Vermont state line, and called 911, said Murphy, who noted the shooting took place in an area with limited cell phone service. Emergency crews arrived and performed CPR on Gillis but couldn’t save her. The shooting happened days after Ralph Yarl, 16, was shot and wounded in Kansas City, Missouri, after going to the wrong house to pick up his siblings. She was traveling with friends when they mistakenly turned into the wrong driveway. As they were leaving in the vehicle, the homeowner opened fire upon their car and Kaylin was struck and killed,” it reads.

There was no reason for Mr Monahan to feel threatened,” he said, adding that it is easy to get lost in the rural area. The sheriff said that there was no reason for Mr Monahan to feel threatened by the group of friends, who are not thought to have even exited the vehicle or had any interaction with the shooter before he opened fire. Due to the lack of cellphone reception in the remote area where the shooting took place, the group drove five miles to the neighbouring town of Salem to call 911. Washington County Sheriff Jeffrey Murphy said at a press conference on Monday (17 April) that the group accidentally drove into the driveway of Mr Monahan’s home. "It's a very rural area. There's dirt roads. There's not a lot of cell service or any type of internet," the sheriff said.

The newspaper reported, citing a source, that investigators don’t believe mental illness or alcohol are factors in the shooting. She had a very loving boyfriend, and she was so in love with him,” Gillis’ cousin Haleigh Eustis, 20, told The Post Monday night. A fundraiser verified by GoFundMe and launched on behalf of Gillis’s family for funeral expenses and other costs had raised over $50,000 early Tuesday. “This country is sick; accidentally going to the wrong house should not be a death sentence,” wrote New York City-based comedian Julia Claire.

The house lights turned on about the time the two vehicles made a three-point turn to leave. Walsh said he heard a loud noise as he was backing up and one of his two friends in the back seat of the SUV said someone was shooting a gun. Monahan's defense attorney, Arthur Frost, has said Monahan was scared by the group of strangers arriving late at night at the remote home he shared with his wife. Frost told the jury last week the shooting was a "terrible accident" involving a defective gun that went off when he stumbled and banged it into something. Monahan was arrested shortly after the shooting and charged the next day. It took about four days for charges to be filed against Lester, who police said was cooperating with the investigation.

A shooting in the 4800 block of Adobe Drive, near 50th Street East in Palmdale claimed the life of a 22-year-old man and wounded a 16-year-old boy. School officials said Gillis was on the competition cheerleading team in high school for two seasons, took part in Future Farmers of America programs, and was an avid artist. “Our Student Affairs team is providing resources and support to those who may be affected by this tragedy, and we remind all of our students that help is always available to them,” university officials said in a statement. Yarl is Black, and prosecutors said there was a “racial component” to his case, which sparked protests earlier in the year. In the New York shooting, the victim, Kaylin Gillis was White, as is the homeowner, Kevin Monahan. Police believe Donofrio attempted to enter the wrong house on his street and was shot in his upper body.