An Elmont man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for the brutal murder of Rebecca Carlson on Valentine’s Day in 2023. Andrew Avila, 26, pleaded guilty to strangling the 39-year-old woman and leaving her body behind an Advanced Auto Parts store in South Hempstead.
Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly announced that Avila was sentenced following his guilty plea to Manslaughter in the First Degree, a B violent felony, on April 2, 2024.
“Andrew Avila brutally strangled Rebecca Carlson to death in his car after a Valentine’s Day tryst that didn’t end the way he wanted,” said Donnelly. “Without a care for the life he extinguished, the defendant dumped Rebecca’s body behind a local storefront with the trash and drove off. Avila will now spend more than two decades of his young life behind bars for his callous violence. Our thoughts remain with Rebecca’s family as her killer is brought to justice.”
According to the indictment and investigation, in the early morning hours of February 14, 2023, Avila met with Carlson in his vehicle in Mineola. They had arranged to meet in person to engage in a sex act, but an argument ensued, escalating to the point where Avila strangled Carlson to death.
Avila then disposed of Carlson’s body next to a dumpster behind the Advanced Auto Parts retail store at 1146 Grand Avenue in South Hempstead. Her body was discovered later that morning by a store employee.
Avila was arrested by the Nassau County Police Department’s Homicide Squad on March 2, 2023, in Hewlett. He will now serve 25 years in prison for his crime.
