Long Beach Man Sentenced For Murder of 18-Year-Old

A Long Beach man was sentenced Thursday in the brutal murder of a Lynbrook woman on a footbridge in Rockville Centre in 2013, the Nassau County District Attorney said.

Maxwell Sherman, 20, will spend 18 years to life in prison for the murder of 18-year-old Lauren Daverin, officials said. Sherman pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in April before Acting Supreme Court Justice Meryl Berkowitz.

“Because of the cold-blooded brutality of this crime, it is just that Maxwell Sherman pay a heavy price for tragically and inexplicably cutting Lauren Daverin’s life short,” Acting DA Madeline Singas said in a statement Thursday. “It is my fervent hope that today’s sentence gives Lauren’s loved ones a small amount of closure and peace.”

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Daverin was pronounced dead at 10:15 p.m., minutes after her friends found her on the footbridge between Merrick Road and Sunrise Highway, the DA said. Daverin, a newlywed, was just shy of her 19th birthday and had been hanging out with friends on the footbridge earlier that night.

Daverin had been strangled and struck in the head multiple times in the hour before she was found, the DA said.

The day after Daverin’s murder, Sherman told a CBS news reporter that he was “surprised” by her death and that he had only seen her for a few minutes that night. Sherman, who had visible injuries on his body, had also approached Rockville Centre Police claiming he had been assaulted after leaving the footbridge, officials said.

Police charged Sherman on Aug. 24 after a witness identified him from a photo array, the DA said. The witness, who had ridden his bike on the footbridge that night, went to police and said “he saw Sherman on top of Daverin” at about 9 p.m. on the night of her death, the DA said.

Photos: Lauren Daverin|Maxwell Sherman. Credit: Facebook|NCPD