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ALBANY Kaylin Gillis, the 20-year-old youth killed in a driveway shooting in Washington County in April, was repeatedly mentioned in a state Senate Codes Committee debate on a proposed Stand Your Ground law.

State Sen. Dan Stec, R-Queensbury, is a co-sponsor of the proposed law that would eliminate a requirement that an individual facing a realistic threat must retreat before using force, including deadly force, in self-defense.

I will be opposing this bill mainly in the name of 16-year-old Ralph Yarl, who was shot twice after ringing the wrong doorbell (in Missouri) and Kaylin Gillis, who was shot after entering the wrong driveway, said Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal, D-Manhattan, at the May 3 committee hearing, a video of which is posted on YouTube.

Contacted later, Assemblyman Matt Simpson, R-Horicon, who supports the proposed Stand Your Ground legislation, said the death of Gillis is not applicable to the legislation, because it was clear that Gillis did not pose a threat to Kevin Monahan, who fatally shot her.

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Gillis was a passenger in a car that turned around in Monahans driveway in Hebron when the group got lost.

I think it is clear that her party were not threatening to him, said Simpson, in a telephone interview on Tuesday.

The committee voted 9-4 against advancing the legislation S 1120 for further consideration in the Senate.

Friends of Kaylin Gillis cried as they gathered in Fort Hardy Park in Schuylerville on Thursday night to mourn the loss of the 2021 Schuylerville High School graduate.

I dont know that we need to be a Stand Your Ground state, in my opinion, at all, said Sen. Jamaal Bailey, D-Bronx, the committee chairman.

Sen. George Borrello, R-Hanover, the principal sponsor, told the committee that the legislation would allow the use of force in self-defense if the person threatened was lawfully in place.

This law is really about giving people the right to defend themselves, he said.

Borrello emphasized that under the proposed law there must be a reasonable eminent threat and the individual responding to the threat must be lawfully in place.

This is not about vigilantes running around. This is about defending yourself and your family, he said.

Borrello said perhaps the most significant change in the legislation would be in civil law.

It puts the burden on those that are trying to sue the person that there was not a justified use of force, versus the burden being on the person who defended themselves, he said.

Borrello said that 40 other states have so-called Stand Your Ground laws.

The decision to hold the man accused of shooting and killing 20-year-old Kaylin Gillis in April, in jail without bail was upheld by a Warren County judge on Thursday morning.

Debate centered around whether the proposed law would increase or decrease deadly shootings.

Sen. Dean Murray, R-Long Island, a supporter of the legislation, said it would not increase unjustified shootings.

With or without this legislation, someone who is that deranged that is going to shoot someone for no reason it happened in Washington County, a young lady turning around in a guys driveway I dont think this law is the impetus for doing that, he said.

Murray criticized the handling of a case in which Jose Alba, a Manhattan bodega clerk was charged with murder after he grabbed a knife and stabbed an angry customer who jumped over the counter and pinned Alba to a wall.

The charge was later dismissed.

The message that was sent was: Youre not allowed to defend yourself. If you even try, you could be in trouble, Murray said.

Opponents of the proposed law said in Albas case, due diligence was done and it was determined the charge should be dropped.

Murray said the proposed law, on the other hand, would send the message that you are allowed to protect yourself. You are allowed to protect your family.

Supporters of the proposed legislation said it would be a deterrent to crime in New York City.

Sen. Roxanne Presaud, D-Brooklyn, said crime is an issue statewide.

I havent seen lately in New York City where someone took a wrong turn in someones driveway and someone came out and shot at a car with four people in it and killed a young woman because she turned into the wrong driveway. And it was not threat. They were driving away, she said.

Stec, who does not serve on the Codes Committee, did not return voice mail messages The Post-Star left on Tuesday and Thursday seeking comment for this report.

Maury Thompson covered local government and politics for The Post-Star for 21 years before he retired in 2017. He continues to follow regional politics as a freelance writer.

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