Woman kills ex-daughter-in-law in murder-suicide in NYC, police say

NEW YORK – A woman fatally shot her former daughter-in-law before killing herself on the Upper East Side Friday, police said.

The shooting took place around 9 a.m. on East 88th Street – just half a block away from the mayor's residence, Gracie Mansion.

The victim has been identified as 45-year-old Marisa Galloway, a single mother of two girls, ages 1 and 4.

Police said 65-year-old Kathleen Leigh, the grandmother of Galloway's 4-year-old daughter, shot Galloway before shooting herself . It happened outside a white Honda Civic while Galloway's 1-year-old daughter was in a car seat in the vehicle. The child was unharmed.

According to police sources, there had been an ongoing custody battle between Galloway and Leigh's son, who is the father of Galloway's 4-year-old daughter.

"She always talked about the fact that she had a former husband that was harassing the hell out of her. Because I had Child Services at my door one evening asking if I've ever heard any problems next door, and I said, no, no, she's lovely, lovely mother," neighbor Meryl Fiedelman said.

Police sources said Galloway had made five domestic incident reports and filed two complaint reports against him.

According to police, Leigh was a retired Cook County, Illinois probation officer who is believed to have been living in New York City with family members for the past three years.

Marisa Galloway remembered as "wonderful mother," friendly neighbor

Neighbors described Galloway as a friendly neighbor who loved to run.

She had served as a volunteer assistant track and field coach at Fordham University for 17 years. She graduated from the university herself in 2001 and earned her master's in education in 2005. In a statement, the university said, "The Fordham University community is deeply saddened by the tragic death of Marisa Galloway... We keep Marisa and her loved ones in our thoughts and prayers."

"She was – I don't want to use the past tense – she was a lovely, lovely girl with two lovely little kids," Fiedelman said. "Wonderful, wonderful mother. Wonderful."