Police: Cheektowaga woman killed by abusive husband
CHEEKTOWAGA, N.Y. -- Cheektowaga Police said 30-year-old Keaira Hudson was working with a domestic violence advocate to find safe housing for herself and her kids after a previous violent encounter with her estranged husband.
Unfortunately she was not able to get to safety fast enough.
“This is an awful, awful ending to a domestic violence incident,” said Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia.
“Our thoughts are with the family and especially the children of this victim,” said Cheektowaga Police Chief Brian Gould.
Last Wednesday, Cheektowaga Police responded to a home on Barbara Street after learning a woman was being punched by her husband.
Police filed a warrant against the suspect, 45-year-old Adam Bennefield and advised the victim, his estranged wife, Hudson, to notify them if he returned.
On Thursday, police were notified the victim had video of the incident, but they did not receive the video until Sunday.
On Monday, after viewing the video, detectives upgraded the charges to a misdemeanor assault, and on Tuesday, Adam Bennefield turned himself in.
He was charged and released, and Hudson was notified he was free.
She was staying at her mother’s house in Buffalo and on Wednesday morning, investigators say Bennefield drove his car into hers and shot her in the head.
A tragedy Gould says could have been prevented with better timing.
“The video was never mentioned to the first responding officer. Had we had that, we could have done something sooner,” he said.
And with state laws that enforce bail for perpetrators deemed a danger to the community. New York is the last state that does not.
“That is something that we’ve asked for. That is something that we continue to ask for,” he said.
“They said they put together a safety plan. Going to your mother’s house is not a safety plan,” said Pastor Tim Newkirk at GYC ministries, and a family friend of Hudson.
Newkirk says detectives should have been more proactive in preventing this crime.
He says although Hudson was working with detectives, she feared for her life so much that she put on a bulletproof vest that day and was wearing it when she was shot and killed.
“The mother looked into my eyes and fell and dropped. We picked her up off the ground and she asked me – “Pastor Newkirk, did my daughter have on her vest?”
Police were asked if Hudson was wearing a vest at the time she was killed but they would not give out those details of the investigation.
Police are offering a $7,500 reward to anyone who can provide information on the whereabouts of Adam Bennefield.