The Nassau County District Attorney announced that the jury deliberated for only about two hours before finding Ruben Diego Avila Huicab murdered in Hempster on Tuesday, June 27. Convicted of fatal shooting of a man.
Avila Huicab, 33, of North Carolina, drove to Ricardo Cardona’s Hempstead home on the night of January 12, 2021, according to trial testimony. Home.
The other defendant, who was 16 at the time, accompanied him in a second vehicle, the district attorney said.
Avila Huicab and Cardona have been in dispute over payment; Cardona reportedly did construction work for Avila Huicab and would not return tools used for the work until proper payment for the services had been received.
On the night of the murder, Avila Huicab gave the teenage accomplice a semiautomatic handgun and told him to wait in a van until the killer led Cardona out of his house.
As Cardona walked up to the car, the teen fired seven shots.
He was shot five times, including in the chest and neck.
The teenager and Avila Huikab fled the scene. Cardona was pronounced dead at the scene by police minutes later.
Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donelly claimed in a statement that Avila Huicab “planned the murder of Ricardo Cardona Cardona’s murder, threatened to kill the victim multiple times over a two-week period, and even texted Ricardo on the day of his murder: Saying goodbye to everyone.”
“Ricardo retained the defendant’s tools to ensure he received his fair share of compensation,” she continued. “He was senselessly murdered for it.”
Following his two-week trial, Avila Huicab was convicted by a jury of:
- second degree murder
- Possession of a weapon, second degree offense, two counts
He will return to court for sentencing on Tuesday, Aug. 22, and could face up to 40 years to life in prison.
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