West Islip man arrested in Oct. 16 fatal hit-run of grandmother, cops say

Suffolk County police charged a West Islip man with murder Friday after he was accused of intentionally running over his grandmother.

Police arrested Raymond Gallo, 28, in the Oct. 16 death of his grandmother, Helga McNulty. She had gotten out of the car that night on Tanglewood Road and Ryan Street in West Islip.

Authorities said Gallo was driving McNulty, 80, heading north on Tanglewood Road in a Subaru, when she got out of the car at the intersection about 9:30.

Gallo is accused of making a U-turn and intentionally hitting McNulty with the car and then driving away.

McNulty was taken to Good Samaritan University Hospital where she was pronounced dead.

Detectives later found the vehicle and said they knew Gallo’s identity as they investigated the crash, and issued an arrest warrant Thursday.

Gallo was arraigned Friday on the second-degree murder warrant at Suffolk County Criminal Court in Riverhead. It was not clear if he was represented by an attorney. Arraignment information was not available in court records.

By John Asbury

john.asbury@newsday.comJohnAsbury

John Asbury is a breaking news and general assignment reporter. He has been with Newsday since 2014 and previously worked at The Press-Enterprise in Riverside, California.