Elmont man Mark Small, 55, has been indicted on murder and weapons charges in the shooting death of his girlfriend, Marivel Estevez, in her Mineola apartment in late July, Nassau District Attorney Anne Donnelly said.
Small pleaded not guilty to murder in the second-degree and criminal possession in the second-degree during his arraignment at the Nassau County Courthouse Tuesday, located across the street from where Estevez was murdered, and was remanded. His next court date is set for Oct. 21.
Officers responded to a wellness check July 30 at the Allure Mineola at 140 Old Country Road, where they discovered Estevez, who lived in the apartment complex and was pronounced dead at the scene.
“Marivel Estevez had recently told friends and family members that she wanted to end her relationship with Mark Small and move to Florida,” Donnelly said. “The defendant, however, was unwilling to let her go and is accused of murdering Marivel in cold blood at her Mineola apartment. The murder of this young woman was a calculated and cowardly act, and my office will vigorously prosecute this case.”
Estevez worked in the Allure, formerly known as Modera Mineola, in management and also lived there, according to Donnelly.
Between the evening hours of July 28 and early morning hours of July 29, Small and Estevez were together in her Allure apartment when Small allegedly shot her with a handgun once in the head and once in the torso before fleeing the scene in her car with Estevez’s car, the DA said.
Small was detained at the hospital by Nassau County police officers after he was hit by a car chasing the dog on the Long Island Expressway.
“Their relationship was described by friends and family as tumultuous and she confided in friends and family that she wanted to leave Mark,” Nassau County Det. Captain Stephen Fitzpatrick said in August, according to News 12.
