Northeast
Grandmother kills college track coach in murder-suicide in wealthy New York neighborhood: police
A retired Chicago woman gunned down her grandson’s mother in an upscale New York City neighborhood just steps from the mayor’s home as part of a deadly custody dispute over a 4-year-old girl, city police said Friday. Then she killed herself as a 1-year-old sat in a carseat steps away.
The NYPD said Friday morning that Marisa Galloway, 46, had been shot in the head and the back on a Manhattan street by Kathleen Leigh, the 66-year-old grandmother of Galloway’s 4-year-old child.
“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 told reporters.
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Police investigators at the scene of a murder-suicide near mayor Eric Adams home, Gracie Mansion (Peter Gerber)
The victim of a shocking murder-suicide in New York City’s Upper East Side has been identified as a schoolteacher and former track and field coach at nearby Fordham University, where she had graduated in 2001.
Police found two pistols at the scene — which played out less than a block from Gracie Mansion, where Mayor Eric Adams lives. Leigh dropped one of them after pulling the trigger on herself, and police recovered the other from a tote bag.
They also found Galloway’s other child, a 1-year-old, alive in the back of a car nearby. She is not related to Leigh.
Galloway had just placed the child in a child seat when surveillance video shows Leigh approach and open fire, according to authorities. Then Leigh shot herself.
Police investigators at the scene of a murder-suicide on New York City’s Upper East Side, Friday, July 26, 2024. Accoring to reports, a woman was shot dead by her former mother-in-law, who then turned the gun on herself. (Peter Gerber)
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Galloway and her killer had a history of domestic disputes believed to have stemmed from custody arrangements regarding the 4-year-old, police said during a morning news briefing.
She had filed five reports and two complaints with the NYPD, none of which resulted in an arrest.
Leigh’s son, Kenny Leigh, is the 4-year-old’s father.
The killer was a retired probation officer from Chicago, who lived on North Park Avenue in the Windy City until relocating to the Big Apple three years ago, police said.
Police investigators at the scene of a murder-suicide on New York City’s Upper East Side, Friday, July 26, 2024. Accoring to reports, a woman was shot dead by her former mother-in-law, who then turned the gun on herself. (Peter Gerber)
Responding officers found both women with gunshot wounds to the head.
Paramedics rushed Galloway to the hospital, where she succumbed to her injuries.
Galloway was a former college athlete who returned to her alma mater as a volunteer.
“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 told Fox News Digital.
Galloway earned a bachelor of arts degree from Fordham College at Rose Hill in 2001 and a master’s degree in science from the Fordham Graduate School of Education four years later, the school said.
“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 continued. “We keep Marissa and her loved ones in our thoughts and prayers.”
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New York
Man Sentenced to 115 Years for Killing N.Y.P.D. Officer in Queens
A man was sentenced to 115 years in prison on Monday for the fatal shooting of a New York City police officer who had ordered him to step out of a car in Queens in 2024.
More than 200 people, mostly police officers, packed a courtroom in State Supreme Court in Queens to hear Justice Michael Aloise sentence Guy Rivera in the killing of Jonathan Diller, 31, who was promoted to the rank of detective after his death.
“It took me five minutes to calculate these numbers,” Justice Aloise said. “It’s going to take you a lifetime to calculate the damage you did and the grief that you caused.”
He said that Mr. Rivera had determined his own fate “the second you pulled that trigger.”
Detective Diller’s wife, Stephanie, who sat among the officers in the courtroom, read a statement in court just before the sentencing, speaking of the pain and loss that she and her son, Ryan, now 3, have suffered. Ms. Diller, who testified during the trial, spoke directly to Mr. Rivera as he sat at the defense table.
“This is the last moment I will allow you to take from me,” she said as tears rolled down her cheeks. “You took my husband, Jonathan. You took the future we planned together. The life we were building, the years we were supposed to share together.”
“What you did to Jonathan” she said, “gave me and our son a life sentence without him.”
A jury found Mr. Rivera, 36, guilty earlier this month on four charges, including aggravated manslaughter, in Detective Diller’s death, but acquitted him of the most serious charge, first-degree murder. The decision, after a three-week trial in Queens, stunned the dozens of police officers present when it was announced in the courtroom on April 1.
To find him guilty of murder, the jury had to decide whether they believed Mr. Rivera had intended to kill Detective Diller when he pointed his gun at him in the Far Rockaway section of Queens on March 25, 2024. They ultimately determined that Mr. Rivera had intentionally pulled the trigger, but did not intend to kill him.
Mr. Rivera did not speak at his sentencing at the advice of one of his lawyers, Jamal Johnson, who told Justice Aloise they would appeal the conviction.
Mr. Johnson, a lawyer with the Legal Aid Society, said after the hearing that Justice Aloise’s statement at sentencing showed the court “had already made up its mind about sentencing well before the trial was conducted.”
During the trial, prosecutors said that before the fatal shooting, Detective Diller’s partner, Sgt. Sasha Rosen, saw Mr. Rivera and another man, Lindy Jones, come out of a store and get into a car. Mr. Rivera had an L-shaped object in the pocket of his sweatshirt that resembled a firearm, prosecutors said.
Detective Diller approached the vehicle and asked Mr. Rivera repeatedly to comply with orders. When he did not, Sergeant Rosen reached in to pull him out of the car.
Then Mr. Rivera fired, the jury found. The defense argued that Mr. Rivera’s gun went off accidentally when Sergeant Rosen pulled him out, striking Detective Diller. Prosecutors said Mr. Rivera then turned his gun on Sergeant Rosen, but the weapon jammed.
Justice Aloise did not allow the jury to see video that, the defense contended, showed Mr. Rivera’s arm was broken during his confrontation with the police.
That evidence would have directly undermined the prosecution’s contention that Mr. Rivera was physically able to pull the trigger when he tried to shoot Sergeant Rosen, they said.
In all, Mr. Rivera was sentenced to 25 years to life for the aggravated manslaughter conviction; 40 years to life for the attempted murder of Sergeant Rosen; and 25 years to life for each of the gun possession counts. He was ordered to serve those sentences consecutively.
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On Monday, after the sentencing, dozens of police officers smiled and embraced one another as they left the courtroom. The prosecutors who tried the case and Melinda Katz, the Queens district attorney, hugged several of Detective Diller’s family members.
Jessica Tisch, the police commissioner, called the sentence “obviously the right result, for him and for anyone who kills a New York City police officer.”
Outside the courthouse, members of the Police Benevolent Association, the police officers’ union, said they were pleased with the sentence.
“The verdict in this case did not send the right message to the Diller family and every police officer who wears the uniform,” said Patrick Hendry, the union president, who spoke at the foot of the courthouse stairwell, backed by nearly 100 police officers.
“But this sentence,” he said, “it sent the right message.”
Boston, MA
Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” musical returns to Boston for first time in 25 years
Say bonjour to the return of “Beauty and the Beast.” The national tour has been in Boston before, but this is the first time in 25 years that Disney is behind the production.
Kyra Belle Johnson stars as Belle, the bookworm who doesn’t quite fit into her quiet village.
“I think part of treating her like a real person is finding the humor and finding the faults and breathing and being present on stage every night,” Johnson said.
As Mrs. Potts, Kathy Voytko embodies the beloved teapot.
“When I was talking to my daughters about, ‘How do you feel about mom being gone for the better part of a year?’ They said, ‘Well, geez, mom, we’re gonna miss you, but it’s Mrs. Potts,’” Voytko explained.
The actors told WBZ-TV that Disney’s involvement in this tour makes a noticeable impact, with Voytko saying, “There is nothing like a Disney-produced Disney production because the magic in the show, the attention to detail, the loving recreation of the movie that we all know and love, plus some elements of surprise.”
Johnson added, “They care about this piece of art so much… And they’re really precious with it, but at the same time, they’re open with it.”
Book writer Linda Woolverton worked with the cast in the rehearsal room to make sure the piece felt modern.
“She literally changed some scenes and lines specifically for us and our versions of these characters to make it seem grounded and real,” Johnson explained.
And Johnson gained extra insight into Belle’s life by visiting the Alsace region of France, which inspired the original Disney animators.
“Walking in the town and having like a storefront and then the leaning building that was this like blue and the wooden windows and somebody leaning out of it talking to somebody on the street. These are real places, it’s not just like a made-up place in your head.”
The wonder she felt is echoed in the audience’s response.
“This is a gate for a lot of new theater lovers. We get a lot of people who this is their first show,” said Johnson.
“It’s for everybody,” added Voytko. “It’s for adults, it’s for married couples, it is for a date night, it for a pack of pals who just want to see something nostalgic from their youth and it makes it a thrill for us every single day.”
You can see Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” at the Citizens Opera House in Boston through Sunday.
Pittsburg, PA
NFL Draft in Pittsburgh sets onsite attendance record, third-best viewership mark
A historic number of people flooded into Pittsburgh for the NFL Draft on Thursday.
Around 320,000 fans attended the opening round of the draft on Thursday night just outside of Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh, which marked an attendance record for round one of the draft, ESPN announced on Monday afternoon. In total, about 805,000 people attended the three-day event.
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ESPN also said that about 13,2 million people tuned in to watch the first round of the NFL Draft on Thursday night, which made it the third-most watched opening round under the current format, which started back in 2010. Only the 2025 and 2020 editions of the draft drew a bigger audience on the first night.
The league said that a record amount of merchandise was sold throughout the NFL Draft weekend, too, though it did not provide a figure or metric there. The previous record on that front was set last season in Green Bay.
The Las Vegas Raiders used the No. 1 overall pick on Indiana quarterback and reigning Heisman Trophy winner Fernando Mendoza on Thursday night. Mendoza, who led the Hoosiers to the national championship earlier this year, was not in attendance in Pittsburgh. Instead, he celebrated with his family from home in Miami.
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The NFL Draft will be held next spring in Washington D.C. for the first time in modern history. It’s expected to be held on the National Mall. Washington D.C. held the draft one other time back in December 1940.
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