In the midst of a fatal custody battle for a 4-year-old girl, a retired Chicago woman shot and killed her grandson’s mother in a posh area of New York City, only a short distance from the mayor’s residence, according to city police on Friday. Then, as a 1-year-old sat in a carseat a few feet away, she committed suicide.
The New York Police Department announced on Friday morning that Kathleen Leigh, the 66-year-old grandmother of Marisa Galloway’s 4-year-old child, had shot the 46-year-old woman in the head and back on a Manhattan street.
“What we have on video, Ms. Galloway puts the child in the backseat of the car. She is then in the process of putting the stroller in the trunk, where she is approached by Ms. Leigh, who shoots her in the head, and when she’s on the ground, shoots her in the back,” NYPD Chief Joseph Kenny stated.
The Upper East Side of New York City murder-suicide victim was a 2001 graduate of Fordham University, a local university, who was also a schoolteacher and track and field coach.
The incident occurred less than a block from Mayor Eric Adams’ residence, Gracie Mansion, where police discovered two handguns. Leigh pulled the trigger on herself, dropping one, and the other was found by cops in a tote bag.
A 1-year-old child belonging to Galloway was discovered alive in the rear of a nearby automobile. She is not Leigh’s relative.
According to prosecutors, Galloway had just put the infant in a child seat when Leigh approached and opened fire, as captured on security footage. Leigh then took a self-shot.
During a morning news briefing, police stated that Galloway and her killer had a history of marital conflicts, which they felt were caused by the custody arrangements for the 4-year-old.
She had made two complaints and five reports to the NYPD, but none of them had led to an arrest. Kenny Leigh, the 4-year-old’s father, is Leigh’s son.
According to investigators, the murderer was a retired Chicago probation officer who had lived on North Park Avenue in Windy City before moving to the Big Apple three years prior.
Both women had head wounds from gunshots when responding officers discovered them. Galloway was taken by paramedics to the hospital, where she passed away from her wounds. Galloway, a former athlete in college, volunteered back at her old institution.
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“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,” a school spokesperson stated.
Galloway graduated in 2001 with a bachelor’s degree in arts from Fordham College at Rose Hill and four years later with a master’s degree in science from the Fordham Graduate School of Education, according to the institution.
“While at Fordham, she was a high jumper for the Rams and also participated in sprints and relay teams over her career. She capped her senior season in 2001 by placing third in the high jump at the Metropolitan Championships,” the statement added. “We keep Marissa and her loved ones in our thoughts and prayers.”
