Note left by retired probation officer who killed her son’s ex reveals abuse accusations, cancer battle

Rocco Parascandola, Roni Jacobson, Emma Seiwell, New York Daily News
Updated ·2 min read
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A suicide note left by a retired probation officer who killed herself after fatally shooting her son’s ex detailed the older woman’s battle with cancer and suspicions that her granddaughter was being abused — claims child service workers previously determined were unfounded.

Kathleen Leigh, 65, shot Marisa Galloway, 45, the mother of her 4-year-old granddaughter, on E. 88th St. near York Ave. on the Upper East Side Friday morning, then turned the gun on herself. The grisly murder-suicide was related to an ongoing custody dispute between Galloway and Leigh’s son over the little girl, Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny said.

Detectives found a seven-page note on Leigh, who died at the scene, police sources told the Daily News.

In a letter addressed “for police,”Leigh wrote of her frustrations with authorities, complaining they didn’t believe allegations that Galloway had abused Leigh’s granddaughter, a police source 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 made, Kenny said.

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, said Kenny.

A custody case against Galloway was filed by her ex, 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.

The father currently has custody of the 4-year-old girl, cops said, while Galloway’s 1-year-old daughter is with her maternal grandparents in New Jersey.

Just minutes before Friday’s carnage, Galloway had strapped the baby girl into a car seat in the back of a Honda. Leigh then opened fire, shooting Galloway in the head. The baby was unharmed, cops said.

The retired probation officer from Chicago had been living with relatives in New York for the past three years while she underwent cancer treatment, police sources said.

The shooting took place two and a half blocks from Galloway’s apartment building, and less than a block away from Gracie Mansion, home to Mayor Adams.