Ex-boyfriend in custody in Brooklyn park murder of young woman

BROOKLYN HEIGHTS, Brooklyn (WABC) -- The murder of a 23-year-old woman who was fatally shot in the head in Brooklyn Bridge Park is being investigated as the result of a domestic dispute, and police are now interviewing her ex-boyfriend.

Police found Michelle Marks unconscious and unresponsive on the sidewalk near Furman Street around 9:30 p.m. Monday. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Authorities say Marks previously made three harassment complaints against her ex-boyfriend, including one on Monday in addition to others filed on May 16 and in December.

The victim had finished work at Fornino, an outdoor pizzeria in the park, and was talking to her current boyfriend on the phone while waiting for the bus. Police say he heard the ex-boyfriend say, "I just want to talk to you," before Marks said, "He is here and he has a gun. Call 911."

He did, and responding officers found the victim with a gunshot wound to the head.

Marks had reportedly been planning to get a restraining order against him Tuesday.

Her mother says that just this past Sunday, she had seen the ex-boyfriend strike her daughter. The next day, she went to police and filed one of the harassment complaints.

"I heard her say 'Mom,' and of course, as a parent, you're going to run and see what happened," Pauline Marks said. "I saw he knocked her to the floor. He was standing over there, maybe just a foot and a half away from her. I asked him, 'Why'd you hit my daughter?' He looked at me like, you know, like he was in another world. I'm beginning to feel it, it was like, OK, now I'm realizing. It's setting in, and I'm just trying to be strong because I have other kids. And I don't want to break down in front of them too much. But eventually, I'm going to do it. But right now I'm trying to hold."

Marks had apparently been so afraid of her ex-boyfriend that she even considered moving to California.

"We asked everybody here if there was anything going on with her," her boss, Michael Ayoub, said. "Absolutely nothing, it's just Michelle as usual, just effervescent, smiling personality...This is a beautiful young lady. She worked hard. We had actually just pushed her up to some managerial skills. She's been here for years, and she's a very trusted member of the family."

Her mother told Eyewitness News that it's only a matter of time. That whoever killed Michelle will face justice sooner or later.

"He's going to reap what he sowed, you can't get away from God," Pauline Marks said.

Authorities took a person of interest into custody, and that man is now being interviewed at the 84th Precinct.