North Carolina man sentenced for murder in which teen carried out killing

A North Carolina man was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison Tuesday for arranging to have a 16-year-old kill a Hempstead man with whom he had a work dispute.

Ruben Diego Avila Huicab, 33, was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison after he was convicted of second-degree murder, in addition to a consecutive 15-year sentence for criminal possession of a weapon, Nassau County district attorney officials said. 

A jury found him guilty in June, after he was charged in the Jan. 12, 2021 murder of Ricardo Cardona, 40, outside Cardona's home near Dakota Place and Vermont Avenue in Hempstead. Prosecutors said Avila Huicab had been arguing with Cardona over payment for construction work and for not returning his work tools.

Prosecutors said Avila Huicab and a 16-year-old accomplice drove in separate vehicles to the house shortly after 8:30 p.m. the night of the killing. Authorities said Avila Huicab told the teen to wait in his van and handed him a tech 9 semi-automatic pistol.

Avila Huicab lured Cardona outside where the teen fired seven times, striking him with five bullets in his chest and neck before the teen and Avila Huicab sped away, prosecutors said. Cardona was declared dead at the scene.

“Ricardo Cardona was lured into an ambush and senselessly murdered because of a petty work dispute with the defendant,” Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly said in a statement. “Avila Huicab wrote increasingly threatening text messages to Cardona in the weeks before his death, ultimately providing the weapon used to shoot and kill the 40-year-old outside of his home.”

Police arrested Avila Huicab and the teen nine days later in Maryland. The 16-year-old was charged as a juvenile and pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, prosecutors said. He is awaiting sentencing.

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.