‘A cruel end': LI man pleads guilty to strangling woman to death on Valentine's Day

A Long Island man pleaded guilty to strangling a woman to death and leaving her body next to a dumpster behind an auto parts store in South Hempstead on Valentine's Day 2023, according to the district attorney of Nassau County.

Andrew Avila, 26 and from Elmont, pleaded guilty Tuesday to manslaughter in the first degree, Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly announced Wednesday. Avila is due back in court on June 3 where he is expected to be sentenced to 25 years in prison, Donnelly's office said.

Donnelly said that, according to the indictment and investigation, in the early morning hours of Feb. 14, 2023, Avila met with 39-year-old Rebecca Carlson in his vehicle in Mineola.

Avila had contacted the victim through a website and they agreed to meet in person to perform a sex act, according to the district attorney's office. Avila and the victim apparently got into an argument that became physical and Avila strangled Carlson to death and left her body beside a dumpster behind an Advanced Auto Parts store on Grand Avenue.

The victim's body was found that same morning by a store employee. Weeks later, Avila was arrested by the Nassau County Police Department’s Homicide Squad in Hewlett.

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