A 65-year-old retired probation officer from Chicago fatally shot her grandchild’s mother, then turned the gun on herself on the Upper East Side Friday near Gracie Mansion, the official residence of the New York City mayor, detectives said.
Kathleen Leigh shot Marisa Galloway, 45, on E. 88th St. near York Ave. at about 8:50 a.m., then killed herself in an apparent murder-suicide, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.
“This is going to be an ongoing custody dispute,” Kenny said, noting that the child in question was 4 years old.
Galloway’s 1-year-old daughter, who is not the child at the heart of the custody battle, was found strapped into a car seat in the back of the Honda, unharmed, Kenny said.
The shooting took place two and a half blocks from Galloway’s apartment building, where news of her death stunned tenants.
One woman was so distraught after hearing what happened, she hunkered down onto a tree pit guard with her head clutched in her hands.
“They shot Marisa!” she screamed at a guard inside her building. “Who’s looking after the kids?”
Other neighbors described Galloway as a devoted mother to her two daughters who was plagued by her ex.
“She always talked about the fact that she had a former husband that was harassing the hell out of her,” said Meryl Fedelman.
The neighbor said that one night Administration for Children’s Services workers knocked on her door.
“They were asking if I’ve ever heard any problems next door, Fedelman recalled. “I said, ‘No, no, she’s lovely — lovely woman, lovely mother.’”
Fedelman described Galloway as a “runner, beautiful girl,” who would take her two daughters out with her on runs, one in a large stroller and the other trailing behind.
“She used to tell me, ‘I can’t get him out of my life,’” Fedelman said about Galloway’s relationship with her ex. “It’s just terrible.”
Cops had been called to Galloway’s home four times between 2021 and 2022. All of the incidents involved arguments between Galloway, the 4-year-old’s father and Leigh over visitation rights and other custody matters, Kenny said.
According to police sources, the child’s father reported bruising on the little girl in both April and August 2022, but both complaints were closed by ACS as unfounded. No arrests were ever made, said Kenny.
A custody case against Galloway was filed by Zachariah Reed on Aug. 20, 2021 in New York Supreme Court, according to a state court database. The last appearance was a settlement conference in December 2023, according to the database.
Lawyer Matthew Ehrlich, who represented Galloway in the proceedings, was shocked by her murder.
“I worked with Marisa very closely for the last three years,” said Ehrlich. “It’s an unfathomable tragedy. My heart goes out to Marisa and her daughters and her family.”
Law enforcement sources said the older daughter’s father had custody Friday to Monday, while Galloway had the girl the rest of the week. The shooting happened on a day the child was due to be with her father.
At least three shots were fired at the mom, cops said.
Video recovered from the scene shows the victim putting her baby daughter in the backseat moments before she was shot in the head, Kenny said.
“She’s putting the stroller in the trunk when she’s approached by Miss Leigh, who shoots her in the head,” Kenny said. “When [Galloway is] on the ground she shoots her in the back.”
Cops recovered two firearms at the scene. One was found on the sidewalk and a second pistol was found in Leigh’s tote bag.
Neither gun is reported stolen. Cops are trying to determine if the weapons were used by Leigh when she was a probation officer for Cook County.
While Leigh’s last known address is Chicago, police believe she was living in New York City with relatives for the last three years.
Galloway, a graduate of Fordham University with undergraduate and graduate degrees, was remembered by the school in a statement Friday.
“The Fordham University community is deeply saddened by the tragic death of Marisa Galloway, a Fordham alumna who served as a volunteer assistant track and field coach at Fordham for 17 years until 2019,” read the statement.
The school said Galloway earned a bachelor of arts degree in 2001 and a master of science degree from the Fordham Graduate School of Education in 2005. She was also a high jumper for the Rams and participated in sprints and relay teams, placing third in the high jump at the Metropolitan Championships in her senior year.
Gracie Mansion, home to Mayor Adams, is less than a block away from where the murder-suicide took place on East End Ave.
The shooting brought NYPD officers who were part of the mayor’s protective detail and were stationed near Gracie Mansion.
Mayor Adams also showed up at the scene within minutes, a police source with knowledge of the case said.
City Hall referred all inquiries about the shooting to the NYPD.
Michael Donovan, a superintendent of an E. 88th St. building, was cleaning up outside when he heard the gunshots.
“I ducked into my doorway for cover and then I looked and I saw the lady with the white hair fall onto the sidewalk,” Donovan said. “When I went closer I saw there was another woman lying behind the car who was also shot.”
A second later, he peered into the car’s backseat.
“There was a … child in the car,” he said. “I called 911, the police responded immediately, and EMS. The gun is still there on the scene.”
Leigh died at the scene, cops said. Galloway was taken to an area hospital but didn’t survive.
“The trunk was open, the doors were open,” Donovan said. “It looked like they were packing stuff up or taking stuff out.”
The shooting happened “right down the block from Gracie Mansion,” Donovan said. “It’s shocking because it’s a safe and quiet block,” he said.
Other area residents said the double shooting shattered the security they felt in this bucolic Manhattan carveout.
“Generally I feel safe here. Until today,” longtime area resident Denise Sweeney said.
Sweeney said she was “a little surprised,” when she heard about the killing.
“There’s always a lot of cops there,” she said, noting Gracie Mansion in the distance.
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