Crime & Safety

Murder Suspect Told Reporter 'Surprised' By Teen's Death

Maxwell Sherman, 18, of Long Beach, faces murder charges after a girl his age was found strangled to death in Rockville Centre last week.

Written by Joseph Kellard

Maxwell Sherman, the 18-year-old Long Beach man charged with strangling and killing a teen girl, told a news reporter the day before his arrest that he was “amazed” and “surprised” by her death.

Police arrested Sherman on Saturday after Lauren Daverin, 18, of Lynbrook was found dead — beaten and stripped naked except for her boots, with her clothes nearby — on a footbridge in Rockville Centre on Thursday night, and charged him with second-degree murder, according to The Daily Mail.

Find out what's happening in Rockville Centrewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

On Friday, Sherman told a CBS news reporter near the crime scene that he had seen Daverin on the night she died “for like five minutes,” he said, adding that it was around 7 p.m. and he was riding by on his bike where a group of teens had gathered and he grubbed a cigarette from his friend, Steve.

At his arraignment at First District Court in Hempstead on Sunday, Sherman denied that he murder Daverin. He is being held without bail and is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday. Prosecutors contended that Sherman is a flight risk because he has contacts in Washington state and Judge David Sullivan agreed, according to the New York Post.  

Find out what's happening in Rockville Centrewith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Some of the teens that had gathered in Rockville Centre on Thursday night told CBS that they left Daverin drunk at the footbridge, and police said that at some point that night Sherman strangled her. Later, her friends returned and found her dead on the footbridge, which extends over Merrick Road and runs near Mill River Complex Park.

Sherman is unemployed and lives on Louisiana Street in the West End with his parents, according to CBS. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

To request removal of your name from an arrest report, submit these required items to arrestreports@patch.com.