Andrea Rebello - victim of a home invasion - New York State

Andrea Rebello

Andrea Rebello, age 21, of Tarrytown, New York, died on May 17, 2013, at her home near Hofstra University, New York.

Dalton Smith, age 30, an armed intruder, broke into an off-campus sorority house in Uniondale. Andrea, her identical twin sister, Jessica, Shannon Thomas and John Kourtessis were inside.

This was a home invasion robbery. The students offered Smith computers, jewelry and other items from the house but Smith kept demanding more money. Dalton Smith let Shannon Thomas out of the house to go to an ATM to make a withdrawal and bring the money back to him. While she was out of the house, she called Police.

The Police arrived and a confrontation ensued around 2:30 a.m. Police entered the

Dalton Smith

house and saw Dalton Smith holding a loaded gun to Andrea's head. It has been alleged that Dalton Smith told a police officer "I'm going to kill her" and then pointed the gun at the officer. The officer fired 8 times. Seven shots hit Dalton Smith and one shot hit Andrea, killing her. 

This is particularly tragic because a Police Officer coming to the aid of Andrea and her sister and friends, ended up in a split second life and death situation.  And Andrea died from it.

Dalton Smith had a history of criminality going back to age 16. He was wanted for violating parole for a previous robbery. He had multiple convictions for theft and assault.

Andrea and her twin sister had attended Sleepy Hollow High School. Andrea was currently a public relations major at Hofstra University and was a member of the Beta Sigma Phi sorority.

Friends describe her as fun-loving, a hard worker and a nice girl. She had a devotion to her family and a sense of purpose.

Andrea is survived by many loving friends and relatives, including her parents and her

Angels of God, pray for Andrea

twin sister, Jessica.

God save us from the thieves. They steal away your money and then your life. They are killing us, Father. Amen. 

Pray for the women who die at 21.  Yesterday, they were just girls. Amen.

Let us pray that Andrea is in heaven. Let us pray that she is at peace and is with God. Amen.