Ricardo Cardona, 40, was shot and killed outside his Hempstead, New York, home on the evening of January 12, 2021, after a dispute over unpaid wages and work tools. The disagreement was with Ruben Diego Avila Huicab, for whom Cardona had done construction work and who reportedly wanted his tools returned. Prosecutors say the dispute escalated into a premeditated ambush and that Avila Huicab sent increasingly threatening texts, including one on the day of the killing that said say your goodbays to everyone.

Avila Huicab allegedly provided the teenager with a semi-automatic pistol, instructed him to wait in a van, and then lured Cardona outside. As Cardona approached the van the teenager fired seven shots, striking him multiple times; first responders found Cardona with a gunshot wound to the head and he was pronounced dead at the scene. Both suspects fled but were arrested in Maryland on January 27, 2021, and charged with second-degree murder.

The defendant Ruben Diego Avila Huicab was later tried and found guilty of Murder in the Second Degree and related weapons counts; a juvenile co-defendant pleaded guilty to Murder in the Second Degree and was awaiting sentencing. Does anyone have information about Cardona’s movements that night or about the dispute over the tools and wages?