A relative of the mother who jumped off Niagara Falls with her children in an apparent murder-suicide has revealed the heartbreaking reason behind her actions.
Chianti Means, 33, jumped over the Luna Island railing with her two children, Roman Rossman, 9, and Mecca Means, four months, before pushing them off the ledge and jumping after them.
Rumors about the Oct. 28 deaths arose from Means’ social media posts about her separation from her daughter’s father, in which she expressed sadness and regret.
But his cousin, Bierra Hamilton, said heartbreak was not the motive behind Means’ actions. He claims the mother suffered from postpartum depression.
“Understand this: Postpartum (depression) is very real and needs a cure,” Hamilton told the New York Post. ‘His death was not by a man. My cousin was fighting depression alone and silently.’
Mother Chianti Means, 33, who jumped from Niagara Falls pushed her two children first, report says
The mother of two jumped over the Luna Island railing on Monday night, with her two sons Mecca and Roman.
Hamilton took to Facebook to defend her beloved cousin, who was also named Diamond Scott, responding to people spreading false information about the situation.
She wrote: ‘Diamond Scott did not end his life because of any man. Let’s be clear. There is no evidence of that.
‘You are all loud and wrong.’
Before his Saturday discussion with the Post, Hamilton wrote on Facebook that his family did not know the “real reason” for Means’ actions.
Other friends and family were stunned by the tragedy.
“You really never know what someone is going through… RIP,” Niesha Eukeya wrote.
Mitch Molina said: ‘I can’t even write a post about her and share memories.
Means’ cousin Bierra Hamilton revealed why the mother went to her death with her two children
It is understood that Mes, along with his two children, crossed the ‘safety guide rail’ at Luna Island at around 9pm on Monday night (file image of the rail)
‘I’m literally sick to my stomach and I can’t even deal with the emotions I’m feeling. I only know that she and her children are very dear to me and my children.
“My cousin had a beautiful soul,” Hamilton told the Post. ‘She loved her children and her family very much. I never had a bad memory with her. (She was) so full of life and wisdom. “We will miss her and her children very much.”
Authorities have said the fall was “intentional.”
State Park Police said that based on reviewed security footage capturing the series of events, Roman was the first to jump over the railing, then Mecca and Means around 9 p.m.
State police public information officer James O’Callaghan said it did not appear the mother was chasing her children as they plunged to their deaths.
Means, who lived in Niagara Falls with her family, worked as a domestic violence counselor, according to her LinkedIn profile.
On Friday, loved ones held a candlelight vigil to mourn the untimely deaths.
Means worked as a domestic violence counselor and lived in Niagara Falls.
The bodies of Means, Roman and Mecca have not been found by police, and may never be.
Many of those who jumped to their deaths at Niagara Falls or fell by accident have never been recovered from the bottom of the waterfall, over which 3,610 tons of water rush every second.
Some are pushed away from the falls by its fierce currents, and one man who fell to his death was discovered 140 miles away in Lake Ontario years later.