An Elmont man was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for murdering his girlfriend inside her penthouse apartment two years ago.
Between the evening hours of July 28, 2022, and the early morning hours of July 29, 2022, Mark Small shot Marivel Estevez with a handgun once in the arm and once in the head and then fled in Estevez’s car with her dog, Tuffy.
Estevez worked in management at the Allure Mineola apartment complex on Old Country Road and resided in a top-floor apartment. When Estevez failed to show up for work on July 30, 2022, an employee called police for a wellness check. Responding Nassau County Police Department officers found Estevez dead in her bedroom.
Small – a failed restaurateur who once operated a business in Rockville Centre – was arrested on August 2, 2022, at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset by members of the Nassau County Police Department. Small was being treated at the hospital after being struck by a car chasing after Estevez’s dog, who had escaped from him on the Long Island Expressway.
Small, 57, was convicted on September 26, 2024, after a jury trial before Judge Helene Gugerty of Murder in the Second Degree (a Class A-I felony) and Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree (a Class C violent felony). He was sentenced on December 12 to 25 years to life in prison.
“Mark Small shot and killed his girlfriend inside her own apartment, and today’s sentence reflects the seriousness of this callous and senseless act of violence,” DA Donnelly said. “Rather than letting her leave New York to start a new job in a new state, this defendant decided that if he couldn’t have her, no one could. We hope that this defendant’s sentencing brings a measure of closure to all those who are affected by Marivel’s tragic loss.”