Her attacker freed without bail, questions arise: Could more have been done to save Keaira?

The disturbing video that Keaira Bennefield posted on her Facebook page on the night of Sept. 28 shows her being punched, kicked and slapped. For  Continue Reading »

The disturbing video that Keaira Bennefield posted on her Facebook page on the night of Sept. 28 shows her being punched, kicked and slapped. For nearly eight minutes, the video shows what her estranged husband inflicted upon her earlier that day, starting a little after 7:30 a.m. Keaira Bennefield wrote on the Facebook post: “this is what this man dose to me but i’m always treated like i’m the abuser!”

She had set up two surveillance cameras from opposite angles in her Cheektowaga apartment. The video shows her walking away from the front door, and then a man tackling her to the floor. He punched her in the stomach and then repeatedly hit, slapped and kicked her as she writhed on the floor. The video shows him holding her down at times and then standing over her, as he appeared to take cell phone photos of her, the flash of the camera flickering against his shirt. He paced around, and then cornered her against a door and pulled at her pants.

She survived that assault.

A week later, Adam Bennefield was arrested for the beating caught on video. But he was charged only with misdemeanors, and he was able to walk out of Cheektowaga Town Court.

The next morning, on Oct. 5, the 30-year-old mother put on a bulletproof vest and prepared to drive her three children to school. Keaira Bennefield was staying at her mother’s house, and she put on the vest because she was terrified of her estranged husband, according to a family representative. While on her way to the school drop-off, she sat in her car near the intersection of Shawnee and Richlawn avenues in Buffalo’s Fillmore-Leroy neighborhood. According to authorities, Adam Bennefield rammed his car into hers, got out of his vehicle, pulled out a shotgun and fatally shot her. Her children were in the backseat.

Following a regionwide manhunt, police arrested Adam Bennefield, who now faces a second-degree murder charge.

The horrific killing raises questions about how the police and courts handled Keaira Bennefield’s case and whether New York’s bail reform laws played a role.

Among them:

• Should police and judges have more leeway to consider the dangerousness of a defendant – especially in domestic violence cases?

• Should Adam Bennefield have been charged with a more serious offense in the Sept. 28 beating, which would have allowed the town justice to impose bail before releasing him?

• Should police have provided more protection for Keaira Bennefield?

Erie County District Attorney John J. Flynn said he believes the state needs to amend its bail reform laws to allow judges to evaluate the dangerousness of a defendant when determining bail.

“This could easily be solved with one sentence in the bail law. You don’t have to throw it all out the window,” Flynn said, pointing out that New York is the only state in the U.S. that doesn’t allow judges to consider “dangerousness.”

‘System let her down’

Adam Bennefield was charged with a misdemeanor count of assault in the third-degree because Keaira Bennefield didn’t appear injured, Flynn said.

“You can’t charge on optics,” he said, adding, “that was the highest charge.”

Because of the level of the charge, under state law, Adam Bennefield didn’t have to post bail to be released.

The judge also could not take into account that Adam Bennefield was convicted in 2000 of kidnapping and escaping from the Erie County Correctional Facility. He was convicted of stealing a car and using it to cut off an ex-girlfriend’s vehicle. He then forced the ex-girlfriend and her friend to drive at gunpoint to Grand Island as police chased them. While awaiting trial, he escaped from the jail. He served 15 years in prison.

Bail law changes enacted in 2020 prevent courts from imposing money bail on virtually all misdemeanors and non-violent felonies. The changes are not to blame in this case, proponents of the changes say.

Police and prosecutors could have charged Adam Bennefield with a felony, such as attempted second-degree assault, which is a bail-qualifying offense that could have allowed the court to require him to make bail to secure his release, said Kevin Stadelmaier, first deputy defender with the Erie County Assigned Counsel Program.

“The ball was absolutely dropped,” said Stadelmaier, adding, “I think it’s a failure of the Cheektowaga police.”

Keaira Bennefield’s family members, who are now planning her funeral, feel the criminal justice system failed her, said Pastor Tim Newkirk of GYC Ministries.

“They truly missed the warning signs,” Newkirk said. “They were supposed to protect her. They were supposed to protect the kids. They were supposed to be the big arm of the law.”

Other women who are being abused by intimate partners are afraid.

Kareema Morris of Bury the Violence, who advocates for crime victims, said two women have reached out to her since Keaira Bennefield’s killing, scared that they could meet a similar fate.

“They’re terrified,” she said. “It’s become a reality that is really happening.”

Morris said the incident should be a wake-up to call to the community.

 

The police investigation

Cheektowaga Police Chief Brian Gould gave The Buffalo News a detailed account of the investigation into the Sept. 28 beating.

Cheektowaga police received a 911 call at about 9 a.m. Sept. 28 about a female victim being punched by a man. It wasn’t clear whether it was Keaira Bennefield who called or a relative who lives in the building.

Police officers spoke with Keaira Bennefield for about 45 minutes, and she told them her estranged husband hit her.

“There were no visible injuries,” Gould said.

Keaira Bennefield did not ask to go to the hospital. The officers didn’t see a need to take her, Gould said.

Based on that interview, officers determined they would arrest the husband for harassment, a violation that is the lowest kind of charge. It is technically not considered a crime, but can be punished by up to 15 days in jail.

When the officers went to arrest Adam Bennefield, he had locked himself in a bathroom. They gained entry “and due to the condition he was located in,” they decided he should go to Erie County Medical Center for a physical and mental evaluation. Gould declined to elaborate on why the officers made that decision.

In the meantime, Gould said, the officers obtained an arrest warrant on the violation for Adam Bennefield, and told Keaira Bennefield to call the police if her estranged husband returned to the home.

The next day, Thursday, Sept. 29, the Cheektowaga Police Department’s full-time domestic violence advocate called Keaira Bennefield.

She gave more information to the advocate and brought up that she had video of the incident. Keaira Bennefield had already posted the video on her Facebook page, but Gould said she did not tell the police or the advocate about that.

The advocate spoke to a detective, relaying that the case appeared more serious than harassment. The advocate also told the detective about the video evidence.

“This is the first we learn of the video,” Gould said.

At that point, the detective reached out to Keaira Bennefield and gave her a link to a portal to upload the video to the Police Department’s computer system. By that Friday, the video had not been uploaded and Gould said the detective called Keaira Bennefield, who said she was having trouble sending it. They arranged for her to come to the police station on Monday and show the officers the video in person.

The following Sunday night , Keaira Bennefield called Cheektowaga police. She thought someone was in her house. Patrol officers arrived at her apartment but did not find anyone else there. However, she showed them the video, which prompted the officers to call their supervisors.

The detectives, who were off duty, were called in to further investigate.

“They review it,” Gould said. “After doing a more in depth investigation with video evidence now, they determine it should be misdemeanor assault.”

Gould said they added more charges: two counts of criminal mischief in the fourth degree, one count of menacing in the second degree, one count of unlawful imprisonment in the second degree – all misdemeanors and the harassment violation.

Gould said he understands the public outrage over only misdemeanors being charged.

“If you just look at it on the video without any further investigation, it’s disturbing,” he said. “That’s why the detectives were called in Sunday night. But you need to look at the actual laws.”

The charge of second-degree assault, a felony, requires a “serious physical injury” that could lead to death or serious long-term consequences, Gould said.

“I get it – the video looks violent. We can’t base criminal charges on how we feel about something,” Gould said. “She was not seriously physically injured by that fight.”

 

No option but release

 

On Monday, Oct. 3, Keaira Bennefield came to the police station and signed paperwork regarding the charges.

In the meantime, Gould said, Adam Bennefield went to Family Court and got an order of protection against Keaira Bennefield. Family Court wanted Cheektowaga police to serve Keaira Bennefield with the order, but the department informed the court about the investigation and the Family Court request was withdrawn.

The police contacted Adam Bennefield and arranged for him to come to the police station on Tuesday, Oct. 4. He came in and was arrested. Then he was taken to Cheektowaga Town Court before Justice David Stevens.

“The officers went down there and let the court know, you really need to do whatever you can,” Gould said.

The advocate also passed along information to the assistant district attorney in court.

“They learned there was no option but to release him,” Gould said.

The prosecution asked for an order of protection, ordering Adam Bennefield to stay away from Keaira Bennefield. And then he was released.

The advocate alerted Keaira Bennefield that her estranged husband was free, and also told her about the order of protection. They were working on finding housing for her.

The next morning, she was fatally shot.

Newkirk, the GYC Ministries pastor, said the family believes the police should have been monitoring Adam Bennefield.

The police knew what he reportedly did to Keaira from watching the video and that he had a history of disregarding the law. Bail law changes wouldn’t have prevented them from protecting Keaira, Newkirk said.

“They should have been following him from the minute he was let go,” Newkirk said.

The Family Justice Center – Erie County provides a one-stop shop for domestic violence survivors. Anyone being abused or needs help can get free, confidential help. The Family Justice Center can be reached by calling 716-558-7233 or emailing safe@fjcsafe.org.

Source: Maki Becker, The Buffalo News. Click here to view the original post. 

Metro Atlanta community, first responders train to help strangulation victims

DeKalb County is trying to make sure first responders in metro Atlanta are equipped to not only help strangulation victims but also identify them. The  Continue Reading »

DeKalb County is trying to make sure first responders in metro Atlanta are equipped to not only help strangulation victims but also identify them.

The DeKalb County District Attorney’s Office hosted a training session that also included first responders and criminal justice partners from Dekalb and other nearby counties.

“One of the great myths about strangulation is that it’s not that serious,” said Gerald Fineman.

Fineman is the co-chair of the legal committee for the Training Institute on Strangulation Prevention.

He says people don’t realize just how dangerous strangulation is and that it often leads to death.

“If you’re strangled even one time it increases your risk of being a victim of a homicide by that perpetrator 750%,” said Fineman.

It’s a number that has the attention of local law enforcement, including Sgt. Philip Lopez with the Special Victims Unit with DeKalb County Police Department.

He was one of several first responders being trained on how to look for signs that someone has been strangled when they arrive at a scene.

“You may have to sit there with them and sort of work with them to encourage them to get that information out,” said Sgt. Lopez

That information comes from asking the right types of questions, especially because the physical markers of strangulation are often difficult for first responders to see.

“One of the things we’re learning is that some of these external injuries may not show up at all, it may be 48 to 72 hours, it may be something that happens months later,” said Sgt. Lopez.

The DeKalb County District Attorney’s office says this is an issue that deserves more attention from everyone, not just law enforcement.

“If we want to make a change in the amount of domestic violence-related fatalities here in Dekalb County, we got to pay closer attention to strangulation cases,” said Jennifer Stolarski, Chief of Staff and Chief Assistant District Attorney in the Dekalb County District Attorney’s Office.

Source: Rachel Aragon, Atlanta News First. Click here to view original post. 

Enraged Bodybuilder Incinerated Ex-Wife in His Backyard, Cops Say

Detectives say they found a human jawbone on Ian Christopher Baunach’s property, according to a newly unsealed complaint. A Florida man is accused of killing  Continue Reading »

Detectives say they found a human jawbone on Ian Christopher Baunach’s property, according to a newly unsealed complaint.

A Florida man is accused of killing his ex-wife when she stopped by his house to pick up some of her belongings, then incinerating her body after taking back her wedding band and engagement ring, according to the feds.

Days later, detectives say they found a human jawbone—with a tooth still attached—in a “burn pile” on his five-acre property.

The gruesome new details are revealed in a criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday in Tampa federal court, charging Ian Christopher Baunach with possession of 13 unregistered firearm silencers. Baunach, 43, was arraigned Monday on first-degree murder charges in the death of Katie Baunach, 39, along with charges including failure to report a death to the medical examiner and 12 counts of possession of controlled substances without a prescription, for a cache of steroids allegedly found in Baunach’s home.

Baunach remains in custody at the Hendry County Jail, according to booking records. He does not have a lawyer listed in court records, and was unable to be reached for comment on Tuesday. On social media, Baunach, an avid bodybuilder, claims to be an ex-Marine who attended Jerry Falwell’s Liberty University.

The case against Baunach can be traced back to the morning of Sept. 30, when a friend of Katie’s reported her missing. Earlier in the month, Katie had applied for, and received, a restraining order against Baunach for allegedly abusing one of their two children, the federal complaint says. Last November, Baunach was arrested on charges of domestic battery by strangulation, and was released the same day on $25,000 bond, jail records show. Prosecutors did not pursue the case, and the charges were dropped in January 2022.

Katie left the estranged couple’s kids with a friend at around 9 p.m. on Sept. 29, according to the complaint. She told the unidentified friend that Baunach said she could come over to “retrieve some of her personal items,” and that she’d be back.

“This was the last time Katie Baunach was seen alive,” the complaint states.

The next day, sheriff’s deputies showed up at Baunach’s home to search for Katie. Officers saw her car parked in the driveway with her purse inside, according to the complaint. But Baunach wasn’t home, and the cops left.

They stopped by again a short time later, and noticed that Katie’s vehicle had been moved and was now parked on the street. Baunach was now at home, but the driveway gate was locked and an agitated Baunach wouldn’t let the deputies in, according to the sheriff’s office. So they applied for a warrant and entered Baunach’s residence at around 1 p.m., the complaint states.

Once inside, cops saw what they believed was evidence of a homicide, according to the complaint.

Detectives searched Baunach’s car, which was parked in the attached garage, and sprayed the trunk with luminol, which the complaint describes as “a chemical that reacts to the presence of blood by glowing blue.”

“The interior of Baunach’s vehicle trunk glowed blue after law enforcement applied the luminol,” according to the complaint.

A hallway connecting the garage with the house’s foyer showed “signs of a physical struggle,” the complaint continues. One of the walls seemed to be damaged, and officers saw exposed screws where a broken mirror had once been mounted.

“Law enforcement treated the area with luminol which again glowed blue showing the presence of blood in the previously described hallway,” the complaint goes on. “The luminol also reacted and on the wall adjacent to the office door and on the office door frame. Law enforcement discovered a large surface area on three different walls of the Premises which glowed blue when treated with luminol.”

In an adjacent home office, cops found a safe “which contained Katie Baunach’s wedding band and engagement ring,” which the feds say she had been wearing when she left her friend’s house the evening before. Officers also found an AR-15 upper receiver and 13 silencers in the safe, along with a Glock Model 27 .40 caliber pistol inside a plastic bag on a bookshelf, according to the complaint. There were three rifles and a shotgun in an attic above the garage, and Baunach had another .40 caliber Glock on his person, it says.

During a wider search of the property, cops “discovered the fragment of a human mandible with an intact tooth in a fresh burn pile, and discovered a blue fifty-gallon barrel near the burn pile which reeked of decaying flesh,” the complaint states. “Inside the blue fifty-gallon barrel, law enforcement discovered an additional human bone fragment. Law enforcement discovered other suspected human bone fragments in the area surrounding the burn pile.”

However, Baunach denied everything when confronted by police.

He told detectives that Katie had contacted him a couple of nights earlier, saying she needed gas for her car. When she arrived, the two got into an argument “over another woman,” the complaint states. Baunach claimed he “did not want to argue,” and went to sleep. When he woke up, Katie was gone, Baunach insisted, saying that he then moved her car to the street.

Investigators told Baunach they discovered blood inside the trunk of his car, which he blamed on “groceries he had transported,” according to the complaint.

“When asked about the blood found inside the Premises, Baunach stated that he did not believe the officers,” it says, adding that Baunach blamed the broken mirror on having “bumped into it while walking down the hall.” Baunach also said Katie was not “actually a missing person,” and told cops they “did not have a body.”

Baunach owned up to possessing the silencers found in his home, but “disputed they were actually silencers,” according to the complaint.

As for any ill will towards his ex, the complaint says Baunach “admitted to being angry that Katie Baunach filed for and received a domestic violence injunction against him.”

Each federal count with which Baunach is charged carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison. If convicted on the state charge of first-degree murder, Baunach faces life in prison or the death penalty.

Source: Justin Rohrlich, The Daily Beast. Click here to view original post. 

Doctors Take Young Boy Off Life Support Following Strangulation, Despite Family’s Fight to Keep Him Alive

A 12-year-old British boy passed away last week from a brain injury caused by self-strangulation during a ‘blackout challenge,” his family says. DaiyMail reports that  Continue Reading »

A 12-year-old British boy passed away last week from a brain injury caused by self-strangulation during a ‘blackout challenge,” his family says.

DaiyMail reports that Archie Battersbee was found unresponsive in his Essex home in April. His mother, Hollie Dance, who found him and contacted the police, said the child strangled himself as part of a social media challenge that he reportedly found on TikTok.

Officials have not confirmed or denied if the child died after taking part in an online challenge.

During his stay at an area hospital, physicians told the child’s family that his brain damage was too severe for recovery. The family objected and wanted to keep Archie on life support. They took the case to the High Court, Court of Appeal, and European Court of Human Rights.

Dance and her family tried for weeks to stop NHS from turning off the child’s life support. He died last Saturday.

“The High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court were involved in applications to determine the direction of care and the best interests of Archie,” coroner’s officer Paul Donaghy said.

The Guardian reports that Dance responded by blasting NHS for the “relentless legal battle” the family endured in an attempt to keep her child alive.

“No parent or family must go through this again. We have been forced to fight a relentless legal battle by the hospital trust while faced with an unimaginable tragedy. We were backed into a corner by the system, stripped of all our rights, and have had to fight for Archie’s real ‘best interests’ and right to live with everything stacked against us.

“This has now happened too often to parents who do not want their critically ill children to have life support removed. The pressure of the process has been unbelievable. There must be an investigation and inquiry through the proper channels on what has happened to Archie, and we will be calling for change.”

Source: Leigh Egan, CrimeOnline. Click here for original post. 

Australia is banning entry to anyone found guilty of domestic violence anywhere in the world.

Australia is sending a strong message to domestic abusers worldwide: You’re not welcome here. Australia has recently broadened a migration law to bar any person who has  Continue Reading »

Australia is sending a strong message to domestic abusers worldwide: You’re not welcome here.

Australia has recently broadened a migration law to bar any person who has been convicted of domestic violence anywhere in the world from getting a visa to enter the country. American R&B singer Chris Brown and boxing star Floyd Mayweather had been banned from the country in the past, following their domestic violence convictions. Now the ban applies to all foreign visitors or residents who have been found guilty of violence against women or children.

Even convicted domestic abusers who already have visas and are living in Australia can be kicked out under the new rule. The government is using the rule, which took effect on February 28, 2019 to send a message to domestic violence perpetrators.

“Australia has no tolerance for perpetrators of violence against women and children,” Federal Minister for Immigration, Citizenship and Multicultural Affairs David Coleman said in a public statement. “The message is clear: if you’ve been convicted of a violent crime against women or children, you are not welcome in this country, wherever the offence occurred, whatever the sentence.”

The ban is supposed to make Australia safer, but not everyone is happy about it.

“By cancelling the visas of criminals we have made Australia a safer place,” Coleman said. “These crimes inflict long lasting trauma on the victims and their friends and family, and foreign criminals who commit them are not welcome in our country.”

However, Australia’s neighboring country of New Zealand has long taken issue with Australia’s policy of exporting convicts, and this new policy highlights why. Under the new rule, New Zealanders who have already served their sentences for domestic violence and lived in Australia most of their lives could be kicked out and sent to live in New Zealand. Such circumstances raise questions about when justice has been served and the role of rehabilitation in domestic violence convictions.

Australia, like many other countries, is trying to come to terms with its domestic violence problem.

Barring domestic violence perpetrators from other countries sends a strong message, but it’s only meaningful if the country also tackles the problem among its own citizens. According to a Personal Safety Study conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics, about 17% of Australian women and 6% of Australian men have experienced partner violence since the age of 15. And the numbers have remained relatively stable since 2005.

That may seem to indicate that little progress has been made; however, as Australian law professor Heather Douglass points out, the numbers only tell part of the story. Since most people in abusive relationships don’t report the abuse until after they’ve left, it could simply be that more are leaving, which is a good thing. There has also been a marked increase in people seeking domestic violence services in some areas, which, again, is a good thing. For far too long, domestic violence was swept under the rug while victims were often too afraid or embarrassed to seek help. More calls for help could mean that the stigma associated with domestic violence is starting to fade.

Source: Annie Reneau, UPWORTHY. Click here to view original post.