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 reca.
