Cops: Long Beach man arrested in killing of Lauren Daverin

A Long Beach man has been arrested in the death of a Lynbrook woman killed Thursday in Rockville Centre, police said.

Maxwell Sherman, 18, of 21 Louisiana St., was charged Saturday with second-degree murder, police said. He faces arraignment Sunday at First District Court in Hempstead.

The body of Lauren Daverin, 18, was found on a footbridge Thursday night.

Police provided no further information on Sherman's arrest.

Daverin got married 10 months ago, a friend said Saturday. She wed Kashawn Gresham in a civil ceremony last October, said the couple's best man, Peter Wadkins.

Gresham, who is in his early 20s, is an airman first class stationed at the Air Force base in Bossier City, La., Wadkins said.

Wadkins said Gresham arrived on Long Island Saturday night to assist Daverin's family with the funeral arrangements.

Daverin's bloodied, partially nude body was discovered about 10 p.m. Thursday on the Mill Pond footbridge spanning eastbound Merrick Road. Earlier Saturday, police said they were still looking for the killer.

Gresham grew up in Freeport, and Wadkins, a Marine from Rockville Centre, said he introduced him to Daverin.

"They embodied youthful true love," Wadkins, 23, said from his base, Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri.

Wadkins said he has known the couple for about four years. The last time he saw Daverin was her wedding day. After the Oct. 10 ceremony in Manhattan, they celebrated at Wadkins' family home on Long Island, he said.

"She was a very funny, charming person," he said. "She knew who she was and was very comfortable in her own skin."

The cause of death has not been released, and it was not clear whether an autopsy had been performed.

Two teenage boys who had seen the victim less than an hour earlier called police after discovering Daverin's body as they headed to a supermarket. Daverin was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics.

Investigators searching for clues were reviewing her cellphone records and security camera footage in the area. "The focus is on people she spent time with that night," a law enforcement source said Saturday.

Daverin's family declined to comment.

Visiting will be at the Vernon C. Wagner Funeral Home in Hicksville Monday from 7 to 9 p.m. and Tuesday from 2 to 4 p.m. and 7 to 9 p.m. A service will be at 8 p.m. Tuesday at the funeral home. Burial will be on Wednesday at the Cemetery of the Holy Rood in Westbury.

With Kevin Deutsch

and Scott Eidler