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Guilty plea in murder of Lauren Daverin, teen newlywed

NEW YORK -- A Long Island man has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of an 18-year-old newlywed, reports CBS New York.

Maxwell Sherman, 19, was accused of strangling Lauren Daverin, whose body was found naked and beaten near a footbridge in Rockville Centre on Aug. 22, 2013. Sherman told the judge he intentionally murdered Daverin.

On the day before his arrest, Sherman told CBS New York that he said he was part of the group hanging out with Daverin the night she was murdered.

"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 Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas said in a statement.

Daverin, a Long Island native, had been living in Louisiana with her husband who is in the U.S. Air Force and was visiting her mother when she was murdered.

Sherman's attorney, William Petrillo, reportedly said his client will be sentenced to 18 years to life in prison on June 11.

"Mr. Sherman made a well-informed decision considering multiple factors; the strength of the evidence in the case, his desire from the beginning to spare both his family and the victim's family a long, drawn out trial," Petrillo said. "His state of mind from the beginning was one of remorse, genuine remorse."

Sherman had also been charged with first-degree sex abuse, but Petrillo said that charge would be dropped as part of the plea agreement.

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