by Patrick H. Moore
18-year-old Lauren Daverin was found dead on a footbridge in Rockville Centre at about 10 p.m. on Thursday, August 22nd. At the time of her discovery she was naked, except for her boots, lying in a pool of her own blood. Daverin, who reportedly was strangled, had been hanging out with friends who left her alone for an hour. She apparently had been drinking. When her friends returned to check on her, she was dead.
Maxwell Sherman of Long Beach, L.I, an unemployed 18-year-old man living at home with his parents, has been been charged with second-degree-murder in Ms. Daverin’s death. Oddly, Sherman returned to the scene of the crime on Friday and told a WCBS-TV crew that he was part of a group that was hanging out with Ms. Daverin, also 18, at a soccer field Thursday night not far from the footbridge. CBS 2 has the interview:
On Friday, Sherman raised his eyebrows while talking with CBS 2’s Carolyn Gusoff in front of the Rockville Centre footbridge where Daverin was found slain the night before. On Saturday, Sherman, of Long Beach, was arrested and charged in Daverin’s death.
At the time of the interview, Sherman was not a suspect. But he told Gusoff he was present the night Daverin was found.
Sherman: I met her for like five minutes.
Gusoff: So you were here with this group that was just hanging out?
Sherman: Around 7 o’clock, yeah.
Gusoff: What was everyone doing?
Sherman: Huh?
Gusoff: What was everybody doing? Just hanging?
Sherman: They were chilling by the soccer post or whatever. I just rode by and saw my friend Steve, and got a cigarette from him.
In Sherman’s mug shot, there are scratches on his face. He is wearing the very same shirt as he was when he talked to CBS 2.
Gusoff: And what’s your reaction to this now?
Sherman: Amazed; kind of. It’s right in the middle of town; surprised.
Gusoff: And there was nothing going on in the group last night that would suggest somebody was getting hurt?
Sherman: Nah, everybody was just chilling; hanging out.
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On Sunday, dozens of Daverin’s friends and family members showed up to see Sherman arraigned in Nassau County Court in Mineola. Despite her youth, Daverin was married and husband, who arrived in his U.S. Army fatigues, led her fragile mother into court. The family declined to comment, but a representative said family members “just wish for justice.”
Sherman was disconsolate in court, hanging his head and denying that he killed Daverin.
“I guess you never really know who your neighbors are,” a nearby resident said.
Following Sherman’s arraignment, Daverin’s family went back to the footbridge to mourn at the memorial that had been set up, penning memories of the teen they had called an angel. The family asked those who had known Daverin to come to the footbridge with them and share their memories in writing.
As CBS 2′s Janelle Burrell reported, friends said Daverin had a zest for life.
“She was a little rough around the edges, but all around a great presence. Great to be around, always positive energy when you’re around her,” Aaron Holod said.
“Lauren, she’s a wild girl, she’s real fun, she’s loud,” said another friend.
David Paiz and his brother, Eric, found the body and recognized it as Daverin’s.
“I left her to hang out with other people and I came back to see if she was still here. I came back and I saw her dead body so I called 911,” David Paiz said.
According to local young people, the park where Sunrise Highway and Merrick Road share a pedestrian overpass called the Mill Pond footbridge, is a popular hangout for teens.
The authorities are convinced that Sherman was hiding an awful truth. He was charged on Sunday with strangling Daverin to death. Cops led him away in handcuffs, still wearing the same plaid shirt he had on in the interview, complete with scratches on his face. He is being held without bail pending his next court appearance on Wednesday. If convicted, he faces up to 25 years in prison.
A RIP Facebook page has been set up to commemorate Daverin’s life.
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This case is peculiarly reminiscent of the infamous Jack the Ripper murders that convulsed the East End of London in 1888. The Ripper, who was invariably seen with his victims shortly before killing them, somehow managed to commit his awful crimes in a very short window of time. One minute his victims were alive and in the Ripper’s company; a few minutes later they were very dead with their throats cut.
Although they have apparently not yet come forward, it will be interesting to see if there are any witnesses who observed the alleged strangler Maxwell Sherman and the victim together there in the park, not during the earlier interlude when Sherman was apparently there with a group at around 7:00 p.m., but later on sometime after 9:00 during the period leading up to the crime.