On April 15, 20-year-old Kaylin Gillis was in a vehicle with her boyfriend, Blake Walsh, when they pulled into the driveway of what they thought was their friend’s house for a party. By the time they realized they were at the wrong house, two gunshots were fired at the vehicle – one of which struck and killed Gillis.
Walsh, a 19-year-old from Cambridge, NY, was behind the wheel on that fateful night and spoke out for the first time on April 18 in a phone interview with NBC News – where he recalled his girlfriend’s final moments after getting shot. They were also accompanied by two other friends, who were in another car.
“We thought we were at the right address. We didn’t have any cell service to figure it out. As soon as we figured it out that we were at the wrong location, we started to leave, and that’s when everything happened,” he said. “I tried to step on the gas as fast as I could, and that’s when the fatal shot came.”
Due to the lack of cell service in the area, Blake Walsh had to drive nearly five miles before they could reach 911 to call for help – all while his girlfriend, Kaylin Gillis, was dying from a gunshot wound to the neck. “I want to believe it was instant. I’m hoping it was. I’m praying it was,” Walsh said of Gillis’ death.
Gillis was pronounced dead once police arrived at their location. They made their way to the scene of the shooting, but were met with resistance from the suspect, 65-year-old Kevin Monahan, who failed to cooperate and refused to speak with authorities until the Special Operation Response Team arrived.
Monahan was charged with second-degree murder on Sunday and pleaded not guilty – according to his lawyer, Kurt Mausert, who claims the 65-year-old meant no harm when he fired those two shots. He had a bail hearing set for Wednesday, which ended with Monahan being remanded back to jail without bail.
“When you have a victim and a tragedy, the thing everyone wants is a villain, but not every time there’s a victim and tragedy is there a villain. A number of errors were made that were unintentional,” Mausert said. Whether there was intention or not, Monahan’s actions resulted in an innocent life being taken too soon.
Blake Walsh Had High Hopes and Future Plans With Kaylin Gillis
In his interview with NBC News on Tuesday, Blake Walsh talked about his relationship with Kaylin Gillis. The two were high school sweethearts who had been together for four years leading up to her untimely death. He described his girlfriend as an animal lover who aspired to be a marine biologist in the future.
“I had high hopes, and I had plans. I didn’t want to be with anybody else, and I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her,” he said of his relationship with Gillis – adding that they often thought of themselves as the 2%, referring to a statistic that says only 2% of high school sweethearts end up marrying one another.
“I want the world to know how good of a person she really was and how much she impacted everybody who had the fortunate opportunity to be in her life,” Walsh continued. Walsh went on to say he’s going to miss his girlfriend’s smile, her eyes, and how happy she made him during their time together.
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As for the shooter, Walsh wants to make sure he’s punished to the full extent of the law and expects to be at his bond hearing and future court hearings. “My world was taken from me. I need to see who took my girlfriend away from me. I need to look at him,” he said. Our hearts and prayers go out to those involved.
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