On TikTok it looked like a storybook romance, including a recent marriage proposal. But now cops are looking for the on-the-lam fiancé of 38-year-old Angelique “Sasha” Apostol after she was shot in the head and left to rot in his Queens apartment.
Apostol’s badly decomposed body was found with a gunshot wound to the head inside her 55-year-old fiancé Mark Washington’s house on 205th St. near 113th Road in St. Albans around 2 p.m. on June 24, two weeks after her death, according to police and the Medical Examiner’s Office.
On Tuesday, the NYPD named Washington as a suspect, released photos of him and asked the public’s help tracking him down.
Apostol, who lived in Staten Island, was only found in her fiancé’s home after neighbors complained of a foul odor, her sister said.
“We weren’t even allowed to have an open casket,” the sister, Melanie Apostol, 37, told The News. “Because he left her to rot, her hand wasn’t even solid enough for them to show it to me.”
“I had to identify her through the tattoos of my children’s names” that were on her body, she added.
Angelique and Washington, 55, started talking online late last year, connecting through mutual friends. Both were originally from Staten Island. In February, Angelique posted on TikTok that they were engaged, with the song “Right Here Waiting for You” playing in the background.
But in private, she shied away from discussing her relationship, her sister and friends said.
“She told me that they were engaged, but not too much, maybe because she didn’t want me to worry,” Melanie said.
“I’m still in shock,” said Angelique’s best friend since second grade, Kendra Smith. “I would never expect this would happen to her. She didn’t tolerate domestic violence. I was always the one in a domestic violence relationship and she would always tell me to end it … I can’t believe this happened.”
Angelique even worked for a time as a domestic violence counselor at a shelter in Schenectady, N.Y.
“I don’t think she realized that she was dealing with a dangerous person,” Smith said. “I really think she was blinded. I feel like he manipulated her because she never was properly loved.”
Angelique’s biggest dream was to have a family and children. She doted on her nieces and nephews and was godmother to Smith’s 14-year-old daughter. She even recently graduated from a program to become a home health aide to help care for her sister’s two children with autism.
“My sister was loved by so many people, and she tried to be helpful and support as many people as she could, even though she needed just as much support,” Melanie said.
Before her death, she told Melanie that she and Washington were looking for an apartment together and posted on TikTok that they were trying to have a baby.
“She said he was good to her,” Smith said. “I didn’t really hear nothing bad.”
But Washington has seven felony convictions, according to NYPD officials. He was released from prison in 2023 after serving three years for a Queens reckless endangerment conviction after he opened fire on a 21-year-old man on 141st Ave. in Springfield Gardens. His victim wasn’t wounded.
Friends and family recalled that Apostol and Washington broke up at one point over Washington’s controlling behavior, especially around Angelique’s social media use.
“She said he was too overprotective,” Smith recalled.
The day police believe Angelique was killed, Washington posted a video of himself at an event for the King of Kings Foundation, a Queens-based anti-violence organization.
“To us, it’s still a shock,” Melanie said. “Sporadic grief comes here and there, and then the anger comes.”
“I used to cook Thanksgiving with her every year, and this year I don’t even want to be a part of Thanksgiving,” he added, her voice breaking. “I don’t want to cook anything.”
One thing would bring her solace.
“I just want this person caught and justice,” she said. “I don’t want him to be released again.”
Cops are asking anyone with information regarding Washington’s whereabouts to call NYPD CrimeStoppers at (800) 577-TIPS. All calls will be kept confidential.