GoFundMe for Kaylin Gillis surpasses $140K ahead of service

A GoFundMe for the young New York woman who was shot dead after her friend pulled into the wrong driveway surpassed its $140,000 goal ahead of her celebration of life on Friday.

Kaylin Gillis, 20, of Schuylerville, was killed around 10 p.m. on April 15 when Kevin Monahan, 65, allegedly fired at her friend’s car after the group mistakenly pulled up to his home in Hebron.

Monahan was subsequently arrested and charged with second-degree murder.

As of Friday afternoon, a GoFundMe set up to help Gillis’ family with funeral costs and other expenses had raised $141,532, surpassing its original goal by over $1,000.

According to her obituary, the Schuylerville Central School graduate will be memorialized by loved ones at a celebration of life set for 4 p.m. at Flynn Bros, Inc. Funeral Home in Schuylerville.

Gillis’ family also remembered her in several tributes throughout the week. 

“My beautiful baby didn’t deserve this. She had so much to live for and so many dreams. She was the light of our lives,” her devastated mother, Angelique Gillis, wrote on Facebook on Tuesday.

Gillis’ father, Andrew, wrote in his post that his daughter was a “kind, beautiful soul and a ray of light to anyone who was lucky enough to know her.”

“She was just beginning to find her way in the world with kindness, humor, and love. Kaylin was a talented artist, an honor student, a Disney fanatic, and loved animals. She was looking forward to starting college in Florida to pursue her dream of becoming a marine biologist,” the heartbroken father recalled.

In addition to her parents, Gillis is also survived by two sisters, her boyfriend, three grandparents and several other relatives.

Gillis’ celebration of life was preceded by a candlelight vigil on Thursday night, as well as a community gathering on Friday afternoon, The Daily Gazette reported.

Over 100 people attended the Thursday evening event, the outlet said. Many in the town were still reeling from the senseless shooting.

The preliminary investigation this week suggested that Gillis was struck with one of two bullets fired by Monahan as the driver of the car tried to speed away.

The panicked friends called 911, and Gillis was eventually pronounced dead at the scene.

At a press conference on Monday, Washington County Sheriff Jeffrey Murphy said that Gillis and her friends did not pose a threat to Monahan, who pleaded not guilty on Sunday.

Monahan’s lawyer, Kurt Mauser, told CNN on Tuesday that his client did not know the gun was loaded when he fired at the group.

The car, Mauser argued, was coming up Monahan’s driveway “at a high rate of speed” and creating “an atmosphere and a fear that there was menace going on.”