Justice for Seb

“He loved to use his humor with us with anything, to escape situations," his mom, Consuelo, said laughing. "He just enjoyed life.”

Sebastian was a hard worker; he tried several different jobs in different fields until he found what he loved. Fixing cars became his passion and he eventually opened his own auto repair shop.

“I am proud that I helped him put in the car lift, anchor the lift on the floor and things like that," his dad, Byron, said. "I got to know a well-organized boy.”

But the family was forever changed on March 11, 2019, when Sebastian was killed in a targeted attack inside his Middletown home. It's still hard for the Avilans to talk about the moment they heard it from police.

“I don't know if I was angry at that moment," Byron said. "I don't know what went through me, but I remember having something in my hands and throwing it so hard. I couldn't believe that.”

The Avilans say the outpour of support from the community that followed was unbelievable. The line to pay respects at his wake went out the door. But Byron and Consuelo say it was their son Daniel, Sebastian’s younger brother, who took the lead for their family as police searched for his killers.

“I'm very fortunate enough to have been raised by parents that studied psychology and understand people and that really resonated with my brother and I," Daniel said. "I know for a fact my brother would do the same if he were my shoes.”

Daniel established the “Justice for Seb” page weeks after his brother's death.

“My goal is always just to keep his memory alive and for him to know that, we're here and we're safe and we're always going to be having him in our hearts," he said.

In 2024, police arrested three men and charged them with the murder of Sebastian. Dijion Constantine has already pleaded guilty while Sheldon Paul is currently on trial.

The Avilan family says they just want to know that no other family will have to go through what they did.

“It’s not a justice just for him, it’s for those around him," Byron said. "For the place that he lived.”

https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/hudson-valley/news/2026/04/16/sebastian-avilan-cold-case-murder