ELMONT N.Y. — A 57-year-old man from Elmont was convicted Thursday of murder and weapons possession for fatally shooting his girlfriend in their Mineola apartment in July 2022, Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced.
Mark Small was found guilty of second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon following a jury trial presided over by Judge Helene Gugerty. The jury deliberated for about five hours before reaching its verdict. Small is scheduled for sentencing on October 25, 2024, and faces up to 25 years to life in prison.
Prosecutors said Small shot his girlfriend, Marivel Estevez, twice—once in the arm and once in the head—between the night of July 28, 2022, and the early morning hours of July 29. He then fled the luxury apartment building on Old Country Road in Mineola, driving off in Estevez’s car with her dog, Tuffy. “Marivel was violently killed in what should have been a sacred space – her own home,” Donnelly said in a statement.
Police discovered Estevez’s body after a coworker requested a wellness check when she failed to report to work on July 30. Estevez, who worked in management at the apartment complex, was found dead on her bed.
Small was arrested on August 2, 2022, at North Shore University Hospital, where he was being treated after being struck by a car while chasing after Estevez’s dog on the Long Island Expressway.
