A mother who jumped to her death off Niagara Falls alongside her two children was suffering from postpartum depression at the time of the murder-suicide, it’s claimed.
Chianti Means, 33, stepped over the Luna Island guardrail with her two kids, Roman Rossman, 9, and Mecca Means, four months, before pushing them off the ledge and jumping after them.
Rumors surrounding the October 28 deaths have stemmed from Means’ social media posts about her split with her daughter’s father, in which she hinted at her anguish sadness and regret.
And now her cousin, Bierra Hamilton says the young mom was suffering from postpartum depression.
‘Understand this – postpartum [depression] is very real and needs a cure,’ Hamilton told the New York Post. ‘Her death wasn’t over a man. My cousin was silently fighting depression alone.’
Mom Chianti Means, 33, who jumped from Niagara Falls pushed her two children off first, according to a report
The mother of two stepped over the railing at Luna Island on Monday night, with her two kids Mecca and Roman
Hamilton has taken to Facebook to defend her beloved cousin – who also went by the name Diamond Scott – responding to people spreading false information about the situation.
She wrote: ‘Diamond Scott did not end her life over no man. Let’s just be clear. It’s no evidence of that.
‘YALL BE LOUD AND WRONG.’
Before her Saturday discussion with the Post, Hamilton wrote on Facebook that her family did not know the ‘real reason’ for Means’ actions.
Other friends and relatives have been left reeling over the tragedy.
‘You really never know what anybody is going through….RIP,’ wrote Niesha Eukeya.
Mitch Molina said: ‘I can’t even bare to write a post about her and share memories.
Means’ cousin, Bierra Hamilton, revealed why the mother plunged to her death with her two children
Means, along with her two children, are understood to have crossed over the ‘safety guide rail’ at Luna Island around 9pm on Monday night (stock image of the rail)
‘I am literally sick to my stomach and I can’t even deal with the emotions I am feeling. Just know her and her children are dearly loved by 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. She and her kids will be missed so much.’
Officials have said the plunge was ‘intentional.’
State Park Police said based on the reviewed security footage capturing the series of events, Roman was the first to go over the railing, then Mecca and Means at around 9pm.
State Police Public Information Officer Trooper James O’Callaghan said that it did not appear as though the mom was chasing after her children at the time 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 hosted a candlelit 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 they may never be.
Many of those who have jumped to their deaths in Niagara Falls or fallen in by accident have never been recovered from the bottom of the waterfall, over which 3,610 tons of water rage every second.
Some are pushed far from the falls by its ferocious currents, with one man who fell to his death discovered 140 miles away in Lake Ontario years later.