Barrington High Grad Sentenced for Murder of New York Newlywed

Photo credit: CBS 2 News video/Facebook

A Barrington High School graduate has been sentenced to 18 years in prison for the brutal murder of newlywed, Lauren Daverin-Gresham, in New York, CBS New York reports.

The sentence, which Daverin-Gresham’s family called “a slap on the wrist,” was handed down Thursday in Nassau County court will allow Maxwell Sherman, 20, to be eligible for parole in 16 years, according to the article.

“He belongs in jail and he belongs there for the rest of his life,” said the victim’s mother, Kathleen Daverin, in the CBS article. “I will be at every parole hearing as long as I’m still alive. I will be at every parole hearing to make sure he never gets out.”

Sherman, of the 0 to 100 block of Louisiana Street in Long Beach, is accused of killing Daverin-Gresham at about 10 p.m. on Aug. 22, 2013 on a footbridge in Rockville Centre, N.Y., according to the article. Police said they found the women nude and in a pool of her blood, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

“Because of the cold-blooded brutality of this crime, it is just that Maxwell Sherman pay a heavy price for tragically and inexplicably cutting Lauren Daverin’s life short,” acting district attorney Madeline Singas said. “It is my fervent hope that today’s sentence gives Lauren’s loved ones a small amount of closure and peace.”

She had gone to the park to meet friends when she encountered Sherman who she had never met before that night, according to NBC New York. Sherman admitted to strangling and beating the woman to death.

Sherman gave no motive for the murder but his attorney said alcohol may have been a factor, according to CBS New York.

“Alcohol was largely involved in this case. He was not in his proper frame of mind that night,” said defense attorney William Petrillo.

Sherman and his family traveled between Barrington and New York and his enrollment at District 220 was sporadic, according to ABC 7 Chicago. Sherman’s wealthy parents, who said they love and support Sherman, were not in court Thursday because they said they wanted to avoid the media, according to CBS New York.

Daverin-Gresham had recently married her Louisiana-based U.S. Air Force husband and was visiting her mother at the time of her murder, according to CBS New York.

A day before Sherman’s arrest, he returned to the crime scene and spoke on camera with CBS 2 News about meeting Daverin-Gresham for “about five minutes” before she was killed, according to the CBS video.