MINEOLA, N.Y. — An Elmont man was sentenced Thursday to 25 years to life in prison for fatally shooting his girlfriend inside her penthouse apartment in July 2022, Nassau County District Attorney Anne T. Donnelly announced.
Mark Small, 57, was convicted by a jury on September 26, 2024, of second-degree murder and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon in the killing of 39-year-old Marivel Estevez, who worked in management at the Allure Mineola apartment complex where she lived.
“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. “We hope that this defendant’s sentencing brings a measure of closure to all those who are affected by Marivel’s tragic loss.”
Prosecutors said Small shot Estevez once in the arm and once in the head sometime between the night of July 28, 2022, and the early hours of July 29, 2022. He fled the scene in Estevez’s car, taking her dog, Tuffy, with him. Estevez was found dead on her bed on July 30, 2022, after coworkers called police for a wellness check when she failed to show up for work.
Small was arrested on August 2, 2022, at North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset, where he was being treated after being hit by a car while chasing Tuffy on the Long Island Expressway.