A Queens woman who worked at a domestic violence shelter and “was passionate about helping people” was fatally shot in the head by her ex-con fiancé — and then left to decay “like roadkill,” according to cops and the victim’s sister.
Angelique Apostol, 38, was found lifeless inside the St. Albans home of her partner, Mark Washington, on June 24, cops and kin said.
She was last seen alive exactly two weeks earlier on June 10, the day she and her beau had planned to head to Game 4 of the Knicks’ historic championship run at Madison Square Garden – but never made it, according to her sister, Melanie Apostol, 37.
Instead, Washington allegedly shot Apostol in the head — but her body was so badly decomposed by the time she was discovered that investigators couldn’t see the gunshot wound at first, cops and sources said.
But Melanie knew the victim was her sister when “[cops] showed me tattoos on her body, which were my children’s names,” she said.
The day of the alleged murder, Apostol and Washington attended a charity event together, Melanie said.
“They were seen on the Ring camera from neighbors returning together, and then him leaving the residence, maybe like a half-an-hour, 45 minutes later without her and his belongings,” the grieving sister said.
Nearly three months later, Washington — who has 11 prior arrests — is still on the lam in connection to the deadly shooting, police said.
“I know he discarded her and he shot her in the face, which was intentional because we couldn’t even say goodbye to her,” Melanie said. “We couldn’t have an open casket, and he left her there like roadkill. So I’m asking… if anybody can help or locate this person or their whereabouts, any type of information, please, I’m begging.”
Melanie said she would have never expected her sister’s relationship to turn violent.
The two often posted on TikTok together, and even shared a video of their engagement on the platform.
“That was her fiancé, and that’s all I really knew about her relationship,” Melanie said. “We thought everything was, you know, fine because they posted so many TikToks together. They were always with each other.
“She trusted him and she did love him, and she would have never suspected that he would have done anything like this. Because if she would, she would have left him.”
Angelique loved taking care of her sister’s kids — ages 17, 14, 11 and 5 — the two youngest of whom are on the autism spectrum, according to Melanie.
“She [signed up for] home health aide classes for me…. she didn’t have to be a home health aide, but she signed up for it so that she could help me with my two special needs children,” Melanie said. “She didn’t have any children on her own. She took care of everyone’s children.”
Angelique also cared deeply about the very cause that later took her own life, Melanie added.
“She worked in a domestic violence shelter — which is the ironic part about it — in upstate New York,” Melanie said.
Angelique — who divided her time between her sister’s Staten Island home, Washington’s home and upstate — also handed out soup to the homeless last winter at the Staten Island Ferry terminal.
The summer months have been “devastating” for Angelique’s family as they await closure.
“We’ve been sitting patiently, trying to figure out what to do. Everyone is in a standstill. No one knows how to move forward,” Melanie said.
Washington’s arrest history includes an attempted murder charge for a Feb. 19, 2002 shooting that injured a 41-year-old man in Queens, according to cops.
The disposition of that case was not immediately clear.
He also served more than two years in state prison on a first-degree reckless endangerment conviction – from September of 2019 through February of 2022, according to State Corrections records.
The NYPD released photos of the suspected killer so the public can be on the lookout.
Anyone with information on his whereabouts is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, on X @NYPDTips.
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