N.Y. man pleads guilty to fatally strangling woman he met online, leaving her body by dumpster

MINEOLA, N.Y. (TCD) — A 26-year-old man recently pleaded guilty to killing a 39-year-old woman on Valentine’s Day 2023 after they agreed to meet up to engage in sexual relations.

Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly announced April 3 that Andrew Avila pleaded guilty to first-degree manslaughter in connection with the strangling death of Rebecca Carlson. He will be sentenced on June 3 and is expected to face 25 years in prison.

According to prosecutors, Avila met Carlson through a website, and they arranged to meet in person to engage in a sex act. In the early morning hours of Feb. 14, 2023, Carlson reportedly met with Avila in his vehicle. Donnelly said the victim “refused his demands for more,” and Avila “strangled her and discarded her body next to a trash bin” behind an Advanced Auto Parts in South Hempstead.

An employee found Carlson’s body that morning. Nassau County Police arrested Avila weeks later, on March 2, 2023, in Hewlett.

Donnelly said, “Carlson was a mother who had tragically fallen on difficult times and met a cruel end because of this defendant’s violent outburst. Her family remains in our thoughts.”

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