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Ruben Diego Avila Huicab, age 33, was sentenced to 40 years to life in prison on Tuesday, Oct. 31 for the 2021 murder of Hempstead resident Ricardo Cardona, the Nassau County District Attorney announced.
Forty-year-old Cardona had done construction work for Avila Huicab, a North Carolina resident, the DA’s Office said, but would not return the work tools used until he had received proper payment for the service.
This resulted in an ongoing dispute between the two men.
On the night of Jan. 12, 2021, Avila Huicab and his then-16-year-old accomplice drove in separate cars to Cardona’s Hempstead home, located at the intersection of Dakota Place and Vermont Avenue.
When the duo arrived, Avila Huicab handed the teen a TEC-9 semiautomatic pistol and told him to wait in the car.
He then called Cardona and convinced him to come outside; as he approached the vehicle, the teen fired seven times.
Cardona was struck five times, including in the neck and chest. He was pronounced dead within minutes of police arriving at the scene.
Both Avila Huicab and the teen fled.
According to the DA’s Office, Avila Huicab had been sending Cardona a string of threatening texts during the weeks leading up to his murder, including one on the day of the shooting telling him to “say your goodbyes to everyone.”
Avila Huicab was arrested in Maryland over a week later, along with the 16-year-old co-defendant.
“Ricardo Cardona was lured into an ambush and senselessly murdered because of a petty work dispute with the defendant,” said District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly.
“Today, Avila Huicab has been brought to justice.”
A jury convicted Avila Huicab of second-degree murder and two counts of criminal possession of a weapon after deliberating for only two hours in June 2023.
He received 25 years to life for the murder charge; he will serve 15 years concurrently for one count of criminal possession of a weapon and another 15 years served consecutively for the second weapons count.
The teenager was tried as an adolescent, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder, and is awaiting sentence.
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