The recent deaths of Chianti Means, 33, and her two young children, Roman Rossman, 9, and Mecca Means, just four months old, have left family members and friends grieving and seeking answers. Means, who is believed to have jumped off Niagara Falls with her children in an apparent murder-suicide on October 28, reportedly acted amid a struggle with postpartum depression, according to her cousin, Bierra Hamilton.
Rumors initially suggested that Means’s actions were tied to heartbreak over a relationship. However, Hamilton, who has defended her cousin’s memory on social media, was adamant this was not the case. “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.” Hamilton continued her defense of Means, who was also known by the name Diamond Scott, writing on Facebook, “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.”
Means’s social media posts had hinted at personal sadness following a separation from her daughter’s father, but Hamilton insists this was not the motivation. Friends and family are still grappling with the tragedy, remembering Means as a caring mother who loved her children deeply. “My cousin had a beautiful soul,” Hamilton shared. “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.”
According to authorities, security footage from Niagara Falls State Park confirmed that Means’s actions were deliberate. New York State Park Police reported that at approximately 9 p.m., Roman was the first to go over the railing, followed by Mecca and then Means herself. Trooper James O’Callaghan stated that it did not appear as though Means was pursuing her children, further solidifying the tragic nature of the incident.
Means, who was a domestic violence counselor in Niagara Falls, is remembered by loved ones and the community as a supportive and compassionate figure. On Friday, friends and family held a candlelit vigil in her honor, mourning the sudden and heartbreaking loss of the young mother and her children.
As of now, the bodies of Means, Roman, and Mecca have yet to be recovered, and officials note they may never be found due to the ferocious currents of Niagara Falls. Tragically, many who have fallen into the falls are carried far from the site, sometimes even reaching as far as Lake Ontario, where one individual’s body was discovered 140 miles away years after a fall.