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Marisa Galloway — who hails from Wildwood, NJ and worked as a special education teacher in Ardsley, NY — was shot and killed by Kathleen Leigh near Gracie Mansion on Friday morning, July 26, NYPD brass said at a news briefing later that day.
The NYPD said it happened amid a custody battle between Galloway and her ex-husband, whose mother was identified as Leigh, over their 4-year-old daughter.
The NYPD also said five domestic incident reports had been taken by NYPD, along with two complaint reports, amid the battle over the child. None of the incidents resulted in an arrest.
Citing court papers in an exclusive report, the NY Post says the motive was to give her son full custody of the child.
The outlet also said Leigh was a terminally ill former probation officer in Chicago, and that Reed has returned to Chicago with the daughter he shared with Galloway, barring his former in-laws from any contact with the girl.
Galloway's obituary in the Cape May Herald said that she graduated from Wildwood Catholic High School in 1997 and earned her bachelor's and master's degrees from Fordham University.
An avid runner, Galloway was on Fordham's track team and had been an assistant coach there for 15 years.
Galloway was a member of the Wildwood Crest Beach Patrol before having children, and worked as a middle school special education teacher and administrator in Ardsley, NY.
In addition to her 4-year-old daughter, Galloway is also survived by her 1-year-old daughter, the 4-year-old's half sister; her adoring parents, Nancy and John Galloway, of Wildwood, and her brothers, John and Jason.
A GoFundMe for Galloway's family had raised more than $120,000 as of press time.
"Marisa Galloway touched everyone she met," Marc Bellanger writes. "Her kindness, generosity, and love were unparalleled. She devoted her whole life to her two beautiful daughters...they were her world.
"Marisa's untimely passing will leave a void in all of our lives. But her memory will live on in her daughters and in all of our hearts."
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