Posted Friday, April 24, 2015 11:12 am

Maxwell Sherman, a former Rockville Centre resident who now lives in Long Beach, pleaded guilty on April 24 to the murder of Lynbrook resident Lauren Daverin-Gresham.

“Today we got justice — we got justice for our sister,” said Kelsey Daverin, Lauren’s younger sister. “Nothing can explain how it felt hearing Maxwell Sherman plead guilty … nobody can understand the pain and the feelings that this journey has and will take us.” Daverin also thanked Nassau County Assistant District Attorney Everett Witheral and Detective Bob Nardo for “being the best.”

“Thank you to my family and friends who have been there and continue to be there for me,” she added. “You guys are my rocks!”

Sherman, 19, murdered 18-year-old Daverin-Gresham on a footbridge in Rockville Centre on Aug. 22, 2013. He faces a sentence of 18 years to life in prison. The motive for the killing is still unclear.

According to the district attorney’s office, Daverin-Gresham and her friends were on the footbridge spanning Merrick Road that night. Witnesses said that Sherman and Daverin-Gresham were the last two on the bridge. Sometime after 9 p.m., Sherman killed the girl by strangling her and repeatedly hitting her in the head, according to police. People returned at around 10 p.m. and found the body, but Sherman was gone.

The next day, Sherman went to the Rockville Centre Police Department with visible bruises, and said he had been assaulted by two people after he left the footbridge. He told police he was the last person on the bridge with Daverin-Gresham.

Two days later, a witness told the RVCPD that he had seen something on the footbridge the night of the murder. The man said he had been riding his bike across the footbridge on the way to a bank at about 9 p.m. when he saw Sherman on top of Daverin. The man continued to the bank, but returned shortly afterward and saw Daverin’s body on the footbridge. After the witness identified Sherman in a photo array, Sherman was arrested by the Nassau County Police Department Homicide Squad.

He was also charged with sexual assault, but that charge was dropped in exchange for his guilty plea.

“With this top-count conviction, the defendant has admitted his guilt in the murder of 18-year-old Lauren Daverin and her grieving family is spared from having to relive this brutal crime through a trial,” Acting District Attorney Madeline Singas said in a statement. “I want to thank the multiple law enforcement agencies that worked with my office to quickly and thoroughly investigate and prosecute this case, and for ensuring that the defendant will be held responsible for tragically ending Ms. Daverin’s young life.”

Sherman’s sentencing is scheduled for June 11.

Mary Malloy contributed to this story.