Elmont man pleads guilty to strangling woman to death in 2023

An Elmont man pled guilty on April 2 to manslaughter charges for strangling a woman to death and leaving her body next to a dumpster behind an Advanced Auto Parts in South Hempstead on Valentine’s Day last year, according to Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly.

Andrew Avila, 26, pled guilty to manslaughter before Judge Caryn Fink on Tuesday.

According to the indictment and investigation, Donnelly said in a news release Avila met with 39-year-old Rebecca Carlson in his vehicle in Mineola in the early morning hours of Feb. 14. He had contacted her through a website and they agreed to meet in person to perform a sex act, according to the release.

“Andrew Avila met with Rebecca Carlson in his car in the early morning hours of Valentine’s Day for a sex act,” Donnelly said in the release. “When the victim refused his demands for more, he strangled her and discarded her body next to a trash bin.”

A store employee discovered Carlson’s body later that morning.

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

Avila was arrested by the Nassau County Police Department’s Homicide Squad on March 2 in Hewlett. He is due back in court on June 3, where he is expected to be sentenced to 25 years in prison.