Man Pleads Guilty In 2013 Rockville Centre Murder Case
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A Long Island man has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of an 18-year-old newlywed.
Maxwell Sherman, 19, of Long Beach, entered the plea Friday.
Sherman was accused of strangling Lauren Daverin, whose body was found naked and beaten near a footbridge in Rockville Centre on Aug. 22, 2013.
Sherman told the judge he intentionally murdered Daverin.
Man Pleads Guilty In 2013 Rockville Centre Murder Case
Sherman had spoken with CBS reporters one day before his arrest. At the time, Sherman was not a suspect, but he said he was part of the group hanging out with Daverin the night she was murdered.
"With this top-count conviction, the defendant has admitted his guilt in the murder of 18-year-old Lauren Daverin and her grieving family is spared from having to relive this brutal crime through a trial," Acting Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas said in a statement.
Daverin, a Lynbrook native, had been living in Louisiana with her husband who is in the U.S. Air Force, and was on Long Island visiting her mom when she was murdered.
"She was a very beautiful young lady who didn't deserve to die the way she died," Daverin's mother, Kathleen, told CBS2's Jennifer McLogan.
"I'm just glad justice was finally served for my little girl," she told WCBS 880's Sophia Hall.
Sherman comes from a wealthy family with homes outside Chicago and another in Long Beach, McLogan reported. His attorney, William Petrillo, said his client will be sentenced to 18 years to life in prison on June 11.
"Mr. Sherman made a well-informed decision considering multiple factors; the strength of the evidence in the case, his desire from the beginning to spare both his family and the victim's family a long, drawn-out trial," Petrillo said. "His state of mind from the beginning was one of remorse, genuine remorse."
Sherman had also been charged with first-degree sex abuse, but Petrillo said the charge would be dropped as part of the plea agreement.
