Sunday, January 19, 2025
A former Rockville Centre restaurateur was convicted of murder, more than two years after he allegedly shot and killed his girlfriend, Marivel Estevez, inside her penthouse apartment in Mineola.
Mark Small, 57, of Elmont, was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison on Dec. 12, after a jury found him guilty of second degree murder and weapons charges, according to Nassau County District Attorney Anne Donnelly.
“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.”
Nassau County police arrested Small in August 2022, after authorities say he was struck by a car along the Long Island Expressway.
He was allegedly fleeing in the victim’s car with a small dog in tow, when he stopped along the highway. Small is believed to have been searching for the victim’s dog, Tuffy, after it escaped.
Small was transported to North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset after being struck by a car, where he was treated with multiple fractures. He was subsequently arrested by members of the Nassau County Police Department on Aug. 2. He was discharged from the hospital the next day, when he was arraigned at the First District Court in Hempstead.
Estevez, who was 39 at the time, worked in management at the Allure Mineola apartment complex on Old Country Road.
Investigators said Small shot Estevez once in the arm and once in the head with a handgun, placing the time of death sometime between the evening hours of July 28 and the early morning hours of July 29.
Friends and family of the victim described the relationship as “tumultuous,” police said, and the incident is believed to be the result of domestic dispute.
Homicide investigators said Estevez confided in friends that she had plans of leaving Small and returning to Tampa, Florida.
The Nassau County Police Department conducted a wellness check at her apartment on July 30, after they were contacted by an employee of the luxury apartment complex, where she worked, who notified them that she had not showed up that day.
Estevez was discovered on her bed with apparent gunshot wounds, and was pronounced dead by medical examiners.
Small was the owner and operator of Grotto, a Caribbean-themed restaurant located on Sunrise Highway in Rockville Centre that was on the verge of closing.
Estevez was the youngest of six children, all raised in Rockville Centre. She also worked part-time at her boyfriend’s establishment, according to her close friends.
“Marivel was a loving daughter, sister, aunt and friend,” Courtney Roberts of Lake Mary, Florida, said online. “Anyone who knew Marivel loved her … she was a breath of fresh air with a smile that would light up any room.”
Estevez was laid to rest on Aug. 16, with a funeral Mass at St. Agnes Cathedral, not far from where she grew up, her body carted aboard a white horse-drawn hearse.
