Former Cook County probation officer shoots New York woman in murder-suicide: police

MANHATTAN, N.Y. (PIX11) — A retired Cook County probation officer is dead following a Manhattan murder-suicide Friday morning.

According to police, the deadly shooting was the result of an ongoing custody dispute.

The shooting happened near 519 East 88th St. and York Avenue, steps from Gracie Mansion in Yorkville, just before 9 a.m., according to NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny. Authorities found Marisa Galloway, 45, on the street behind a parked Honda Civic and Kathleen Leigh, 65, on the sidewalk. Both had gunshot wounds to the head, police said.

Investigators believe Leigh approached Galloway while she was putting a stroller in the trunk before shooting her in the head and back, Kenny said. Leigh then shot herself in the head.

Galloway was rushed to the hospital but could not be saved. Leigh died at the scene, police said.

A 1-year-old child who was in the backseat of the Honda was not injured in the incident, Kenny said.

Authorities believe the women were in an ongoing custody dispute over Galloway’s 4-year-old child, Kenny said. Leigh, a retired probation officer from Chicago, is the child’s grandmother. There have been five domestic incident reports and two complaints, but there were never any arrests, police said.

Two guns were recovered at the scene.

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