Manhattan DA Alvin Bragg.
Photo by Lloyd Mitchell
After he was found guilty of fatally shooting his roommate in their apartment on West 152nd Street, 52-year-old Marquis Chappelle on Tuesday received a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
Jurors convicted Chappelle last month on both felony counts he faced: second-degree murder and second-degree weapon possession. Prosecutors at trial said Chappelle and his roommate, Ousmane Ag, often argued over money and other issues in the small space they shared.
On March 7, 2023, a fight ignited after a guest of Ag’s drank some of Chappelle’s Dr. Pepper from the fridge. When Chappelle got home, he was angry about the stolen soda and began banging on Ag’s door.
The two fought over their past disputes, eventually becoming physical, and just after 10:30 p.m., Chappelle shot 39-year-old Ag twice, in the shoulder and the torso. A third bullet went through the apartment wall.
Ag’s guest placed a 911 call to the building on W. 152nd St. near Nicholas Ave., but by the time police responded Chappelle had fled, according to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. Emergency responders rushed Ag to Harlem Hospital but he couldn’t be saved; the city medical examiner determined the bullets pierced his lung and aorta and killed him, the New York Daily News reported.
Chappelle was on the lam for six months and traveled to at least five other states before he was cuffed on Sept. 5, 2023, entering Port Authority by bus. Officials say he tried to sell the murder weapon in Philadelphia in the meantime, and also used different phones, changed his email address and wiped his phone.
“Ousmane Ag’s life tragically ended in the foyer of the home he shared with the very man who murdered him. While Marquius Chapelle was on the run after his irreversible and fatal conduct, Mr. Ag’s loved ones were grieving his devastating loss,” Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said in a statement Tuesday. “Despite his attempts to escape accountability, he will now serve significant time in prison.”
Chappelle is represented by attorney Adam Freedman of the New York County Defender Services. He could not immediately be reached for comment on Tuesday.
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