Crime Stories with Nancy Grace - Mother of 3 Brutally Murdered After Posting Footage Online of Husband Beating Her

Episode Date: October 19, 2022

Just one day after Keaira Hudson's estranged husband was released from jail on a misdemeanor domestic violence charge, 45-year-old Adam Bennefield shot her dead.  Just days before her death Hudson posted a video of herself being brutally beaten by  Bennefield, on Facebook. As Hudson left to take her children to school just around the corner, she put on a bulletproof vest, but that would not protect her from multiple shots. Bennefield reportedly smashed into the front of Hudson's vehicle, pulled a shotgun, and opened fire with children in the car.   Joining Nancy Grace Today: Jessica Garth - Chief, Special Victims & Family Violence Unit, State's Attorney's Office, Prince George's County, MD Dr. Carolyn West Professor of Clinical Psychology, University of Washington Tacoma, Award-winning author: " Violence in the Lives of Black Women: Battered, Black, and Blue", Filmmaker: “Let Me Tell Ya’ll ‘Bout Black Chicks: Images of Black Women in Pornography;" DrCarolynWest.com Julie Gates - Major Law Enforcement Crime Scene Investigator,  Forensic Science Program Coordinator/Instructor, Southern Crescent Technical College, Dr. Tim Gallagher - Medical Examiner State of Florida PathcareMed.com, Lecturer: University of Florida Medical School Forensic Medicine, Founder/Host: International Forensic Medicine Death Investigation Conference  Kristy Mazurek - Emmy Award-winning Investigative Reporter See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an iHeart Podcast. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. A beautiful young mom of three, on her way, dropping her children at school like many of us do every single morning. When a car rams into her, of course she stops, and the driver gets out of the vehicle and comes around to mommy, holds up a gun, bam, and shoots her dead. That's right. This beautiful young mom just on her way to drop off pickup. When she is rammed, she didn't ram the other person to throw them into road rage.

She was rammed. And then the driver gets out, comes right to her window with the children in the car and shoots mommy dead. Why do we even have jails if a mother with children in the car cannot be protected at school drop-off. I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. Thank you for being with us here at Fox Nation and Sirius XM 111. First of all, take a listen to this. Buffalo police telling us that a woman was shot and killed this morning near Rich Lawn and Shawnee Avenue. Now that's just blocks from ACMC and in front of a school bus stop. This was around 8 30 this morning. I spoke with family members who say it was their loved one, Kara Hudson, who was killed. They tell me the young mother was shot in her car in front of her three children. At approximately 8 30 yesterday

morning at the intersection of Shawnee and Rich Lawn in the city of Buffalo, police officers in E District actually pulled up on the location, observed an incident that had occurred. It had already occurred. A vehicle left that scene. Police officers made an attempt to stop that vehicle. The vehicle had refused to pull over for our officers. It was a heavily congested area, traffic area. The vehicle, from the information I have, got on the 33 expressway going in the wrong direction. Due to a lot of reasons, the officers lost sight of the vehicle. They were able to evade. What reasons? What reasons? Why do you lose sight of the vehicle? Every time I see a cop car, they're flying like a bat out of hell. How did they lose the vehicle?

Okay, we've got to bring that down for a moment because the cops are not the killer. The cops are trying to catch the killer. So before I go off on them at the pickup line, I'm still trying to get that through my head. So you've got this mom of three minding her own business, shot dead, and the guy, just to top it all off, gets away. You were hearing our friends at WKBW, along with the Buffalo Police Commissioner, Joseph Grimaldia, nothing he or the reporter is saying is making me feel any better. Again, thank you for being with us. You were just hearing our friends describing this. With me, an all-star panel to make sense of what we know right now.

But first, I want to go to Emmy Award winning reporter, investigative reporter, Christy Mazurek. Christy, thank you for being with us. Explain to me, where was Kiara when she was gunned down? I know she's in her car. I know that much. How close had she gotten to drop off?

What can you tell me? She's right in the residential area. It's a public school, just like schools across the country. They are plopped in the middle of residence. So it wasn't a highly trafficked area, but it is a few blocks away. Okay, well, hold on. Hold on. Christy, Missouri. Yes. I don't know how often you are around a school, elementary school, high school, middle school. It doesn't matter.

Because if you go by at 1030 in the morning, it'll look like no man's land. But if you're there between seven and 830, you might as well be parked on 101 outside of L.A. OK, because it gets crazy at drop off and pickup, which in my mind makes this even worse. Even worse, and another thing, I want to go to Julie Gates joining us. Twenty-nine years in law enforcement. Nineteen of those as a crime scene investigator, forensic science program coordinator at Southern Crescent. Julie, thank you for being with us. Thank you for having me. I'm pretty sure that you're familiar with the Tot mom case, the Anthony case. And I have been to the location many, many,

countless times where, first of all, where the baby, Kelly Anthony, where she disappeared, that's the Anthony's home. And right around the corner, it's a very quiet cul-de-sac, as I would call it, is a cul-de-sac. And hardly any cars. is a cul-de-sac and hardly any cars. And I've been there at all times of the day and night. Then you come out to the exit and entrance to that. You know, a lot of times neighborhoods will have. Here we are, Twin Pines. You know, that's the name of the suburb.

You come out and you make one turn. And it's like, as I said, you're on the 101 at rush hour because there is, I believe it's either an elementary or a middle school right there. And oh, P.S., by the way, Julie, right across the street from that school is where Kelly's remains were thrown away in a trash bag. Just kind of a swampy, woodsy area across from the school. What I'm saying is, Julie, it matters to me that this goes down in a residential neighborhood near a public school pickup, drop-off, because there's no telling how many people could have been shot, Julie, including children. Exactly. I mean, you're in a residential have been shot, Julie, including children. Exactly. I mean, you're in a residential area, like you said, with schools.

If he just started shooting randomly several times, no telling where those bullets could have flown. And another thing, speaking of children, Julie, when we see a murder like this, very rarely do murders take place in front of little children. Perpetrators, killers usually commit a crime like this in secret, where nobody can see them, much less little children having to watch a murder go down. Would you agree with that, Julie Gates? 29 years in law enforcement. Yes, no.

Yes, I would. Even though they're cold-blooded sort of, you know, because they're killing somebody, they don't want their children to see, normally in most cases. Well, that leads me to another issue. Jessica Garth joining me, Chief of the Special Victims Family Violence Unit, State's Attorney's Office, Prince George Merrill. And Jessica, thank you for being with us. I mean, think about it. All sorts of crimes, they typically happen in secret. Nobody wants to get caught. Nobody wants to witness, for Pete's sake. Like Chimela Station, I would never forget, Jessica, probably the first Chimela

Station case I had, because then word got around not to ask this question. The defense said to the child sex crimes officer, and there's not a witness, is there? Other than what this little boy says. Well, I had a field day. Of course there's not a witness. You molest children behind closed doors. Nobody knows about it. And you can convince the child to keep quiet and not tell anybody, either by inducing them with favors like candy or money or threatening them.

I'll kill your mother or your family if you say anything. That's why people wear masks when they go into a bank and commit a robbery. They do it in secret, typically. But in this case, no. Absolutely not. Um, that's why people wear masks when they go into a bank and commit a robbery. They do it in secret, typically, but in this case, no. Absolutely, Nancy. I mean, this is exceptionally brazen. As you said, most crimes are not committed with witnesses. Most people, you know, want to commit crimes and get away with them.

So having witnesses is certainly a liability in those cases. I mean, it's particularly, you know, callous. Even people who commit crimes of violence like this, they often don't do it in places like public schools or in front of children. Awful. Awful. Absolutely awful. Chrissy Mazur joining me, a high-profile investigative reporter. How many times was Kiara shot?

Several times, and I want to talk to where this school actually was located. In this particular neighborhood of the city of Buffalo, not all of the kids are bussed in. This is a walkable community public school. So there really aren't a lot of people dropping off their kids in maybe like a larger metropolis like Atlanta or in suburbia. And in fact, Kiara had just driven around the corner from her mom's house to drop the kids off. Okay, let me just let that percolate just one moment. So you're saying that this is, you said the word walkable. I like that word, Christy Mazurk.

So a lot of children could actually walk to this school? A lot of them do in the city of Buffalo. So in my mind, that's even worse. The children are out exposed walking. They're not even in a car, Jackie. Correct. Their mom or dad isn't even driving them, and they're protected behind the walls of a vehicle, at least. And it reminds me, Chrissy, Missouri, of where I grew up, out, as it has been called, accurately, in the middle of nothing, far outside the city limits

of Macon, Georgia, middle Georgia. We would take a bus to school because we would be the last pickup to go to school. And then we would walk home. It's about a mile and a half home. It was, as you're saying, walkable. So in front of all these people, all these children walking to school, and it's in the morning, right? Chrissy, it was drop-off, not pickup, correct? That's correct.

So rush hour traffic is going on on the interstate, but this is somewhat insulated from the entrance to the interstate. That's why it plays such a role as to how the cops lost him. Ah, okay, yes, because I hate to double down on the cops. They're at least trying to catch the guy. They lost him. Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Dr. Carolyn West joining me, Professor of Clinical Psychology, University of Washington in Tacoma. Dr. West, that makes it even more strange because typically, let me rephrase, crime statistics show that typically murders of this ilk do not go down at 7 30 8 o'clock a.m. I mean you know the dopers and the miscreants typically are still asleep. I mean I wouldn't even begin to serve subpoenas in person until 3 p.m. in the afternoon when the dopers wake up. Because that's when I'm going to get witnesses.

So this type of killing, a targeted multiple shooting of one victim, you don't usually see that at 745 in the morning on the way to drop off. No, crimes tend to happen and not in the public in that way. And at that time of the morning, Julie Gates, your forensic science program coordinator, would you agree? I would. Yeah, and I don't know why it's that way. I just know that it is that way. I know those are the stats. Okay, let's hear more from the police commissioner. A very short time later, the officers located the vehicle, which is the vehicle in question,

and located evidence inside of that vehicle. Our detectives immediately started working the case, working up leads, gaining enough information to get to the point that we can develop a person of interest, that we can actually get that information out. Our detectives have worked this case non-stop which have included other units within our department not just our homicide squad in efforts to locate the individual. We have also engaged the help of some of our federal partners with some other avenues to help locate this

individual as well. We are putting out a reward with Crime Stoppers as you can see it's a $7,500 reward. Anyone with any information, we encourage you to call 911. You can also call Crime Stoppers. If anybody sees this person, don't attempt to intercede yourself. Please call 911. Stay safe. We consider him to be armed and dangerous. He is a person of interest in this homicide. We are looking to bring him in safely and quickly. And again, anybody that has any information, please contact us. That makes me feel good that they bring in federal partners. And when you have a mom gunned down in the shadow of the drop-off line at the elementary walkable drop-off,

uh-uh, you better get help and catch this killer pronto. And I'm glad you told me, Christy Mazurk, how they lost the guy because they were winding through neighborhoods. It was not a straight shot to the interstate where they could put it on 90 MPH, floor it, and go. So that's how they lost him. But they're making up for it. They're working this case 24-7. They put out a reward and they brought in the feds. Now, here's the question. How is it this played out? Did this young mom, Kiara, see it coming. Take a listen to our friends at WKBW. She's just been trying to get help. I've been with her going to police stations.

She's been texting me, sending me videos, giving me her phone password just in case. Montasia Jeter says her sister, Kiara Hudson, was in an abusive relationship, even posting a disturbing video on social media that shows her getting beaten up. Jeter says her sister was staying with her mother because she feared for her life. She's been staying at my mom's house for the last two days, and she was going to go to court today because he was trying to get custody. But she never made it to court or work. Family members telling me Kira strapped on a bulletproof vest before leaving the house Wednesday morning,

got in her SUV with her three kids, and was on her way to drop them off at school when she was shot and killed. This beautiful girl, she's just 30 years old, so afraid that she's going to die and leave her three children behind to be raised without a mother, that she actually wore a bulletproof vest to drop off. I mean, I get irritated if I forget my hot tea when I go drop the twins at school. This mom wore a bulletproof vest. Just let that sink in for a moment. This young mom wore a bulletproof vest, staying at her mother's home,

even posting a very upsetting video on social media that shows her being beaten within an inch of her life. And let me just ask here in the studio, don't look away, Sydney. Have both of y'all seen the video? Oh, yeah. Jackie, yes. Sydney, no. Sydney, we can't cover cases and investigate them if we don't look at the evidence. And I've told many a jury, don't look away. Don't. So Sidney, please keep it on mute as we go forward. But you need to see this video. When I first looked at it, Jessica Garth, I immediately clicked off. But then my own words were ringing in my head that I have said to juries a million times before. Don't look away.

You have to look at it. Just like me. We all have to look at this evidence. And I've got to tell you something, Jessica, and I know you've seen plenty of it as the chief of the Special Victims Family Violence Unit in Prince George's County. You've seen plenty of it. But even so, when I looked at this video, Jessica, it almost made me sick. I actually did look away, but then I made myself go back and look at it. Did you see it, Jessica?

Yes, I did watch it. And it was exceptionally painful to watch no matter how many of these videos i see no matter how many victims come forward and tell their stories um it never really gets any easier but i you know i agree it's very very important for you know professionals and also anybody really to bear witness to the type of violence that can happen in our community i mean you know, Jessica, he chases her across the room, and I guess this is on their nanny cam or their home security surveillance, but it's inside the home.

Nancy Kiera, because of previous beatings, had set up surveillance cameras to document evidence. Christy Mazurik, I'm so glad you interrupted me. That is incredible to me. Not that incredible, not, I don't believe it. It lacks credibility. It means this woman had been beaten so many times that she put up surveillance video cameras in her home to video the horrific meetings. And guys, please follow Christy Mazurik's example. If you have a thought, jump in. We don't care.

Jackie, don't roll your eyes. This is not tea at Highgrove with King Charles. Jump in. Christy, see, that is important. That's the kind of detail I would put that to the jury in my second or third paragraph in the opening statement. So, this woman was so afraid of this perp, she installed cameras in her home to catch the beating so she would have evidence, and she did. And in that video, video Jessica Garth you see the perp Adam Benefield chase her across the room and he's got her down on the ground she's cowering and he keeps beating

her and I mean roundhouse punches I mean pulling back and bam bam over and over at one point she was on the ground and I saw him pull back and kick her. I mean, it doesn't get much worse than that. I saw the video as well. The beating was horrific. And what I saw in that, there were so many risk factors that indicated that she was at risk

for domestic homicide. What do you mean by that, Dr. Carolyn West? When we see things like severe violence, we see things like strangulation. When we see women being assaulted when they're pregnant or shortly after giving birth, those are risk factors that we look for to indicate that this particular victim is at risk for domestic homicide. So I'm not sure why he wasn't kept in jail. Oh, Dr. Carolyn West, you are preaching to the choir, lady. You are preaching to the choir.

And Dr. Carolyn West, you're wondering that now? Just wait. Just wait. With me, an esteemed professor, Dr. Carolyn West, you're wondering that now? Just wait. Just wait. With me, an esteemed professor, Dr. Carolyn West, joining us out of University of Washington, Tacoma, and award-winning author, Dr. West. Listen to our friends now from WKBW. He must have been stalking her. My mom asked her, why are you putting that vest on? She said, because, Mom, he's going to kill me. You don't understand.

And as soon as she went around the corner, he killed her. He smashed into the front of her car in front of a school bus and got out the car with a shotgun and shot her and pulled off. Her ex-boyfriend and father of one of the kids in the SUV tells me this should have never happened. I know he was arrested a couple days ago for domestic violence. I think your daughter was in that car. Yes, she was. And she saw what happened? Yes, she did. And there was two other kids in the car. Where's your daughter now? In the house. Is she okay? Yes, ma'am. She would call

every once in a while and ask questions and saying, what should I do? And the video was posted on Facebook. Everybody's seen it. Everybody was trying to help her and this is what happens the video you sent me was posted on facebook yes it was she said if anything ever happens to her she would not rest in peace the family telling me that the system failed their loved one Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. Okay, with me, Dr. Tim Gallagher. He is the renowned medical examiner in the state of Florida. You can find him at PathCareMed.com, lecturer, state of Florida. You can find them at pathcaremed.com, lecturer, University of Florida Medical School,

and founder and host of the International Forensic Medicine Death Investigation Conference. Dr. Gallagher, you and I have been in the business for quite some time. You, as a medical examiner, an MD, myself as a prosecutor, Dr. Gallagher, I hate calling this domestic violence because that seems to make it kind of warm and fuzzy domestic. That's BS. I've had so many homicide victims state, if anything happens to me, fill in the blank. My key is under the mat. My key is here. My will is here. Here's my password. Did you hear earlier, Dr. Gallagher, she said, somebody here in my passwords, just in case something happens. She's wearing a bulletproof vest, Dr. Gallagher.

How many times, Dr. Gallagher, have you seen this where the woman says, if anything happens to me, and then the very perp she's afraid of kills her? Well, unfortunately, you know, we do see it several times a year, you know, in this state. You know, but when a woman who is with children like this is taken in such a way, you know, I can't help but think about my own mother. I don't think we could talk about a case like this without thinking about our own mothers and how devastating it would be to our lives, you know, if we lost our mother in this way, that the ripple effects, you know, would go on for years.

I don't think I would have had a career that I would have had. Man, you just got to me, Gallagher. You got to me thinking about how you wouldn't have your career as a medical doctor if it hadn't been for your mother. There is no way I would have made it through law school or all those cases I prosecuted in front of juries, drug lords, rapists, murderers, child molesters, arsonists. Without her, she was there every step of the way. Exactly. You know, and I'm one of six, you know, raised by a single mother. So even the attention that I got was enough to get me this way.

And you think about what has the world lost? You know, she had three daughters, she had three kids, you know, what has the world lost? Because now they're going to be in that situation. They're not going to be able to reach their full potential because of this. So this type of violence, it doesn't just happen today. The ripple effects go on for decades when you lose a person like this, the leader of the family, the mother of young kids. And another thing, Dr. Gallagher, while I've got you, I don't want your patients to start complaining there at the morgue, but how in the hay could he beat a bulletproof vest? He must have shot her in the head or the face. More than likely, you know, the bulletproof vest

is actually a bullet resistant vest. Bullets can still go through, you know, the bulletproof vest is actually a bullet resistant vest. Bullets can still go through, you know, and I heard mentioned that he used a shotgun. So when a shotgun, not just one projectile comes out, but many projectiles come out. And you can injure an arm with that and sever the brachial artery. You could hit the leg and sever the femoral artery and then she could expire from esanguination or loss of blood from that the bulletproof vest only covers your chest area and a bit of your abdominal area you know so any other area is very vulnerable including the head and including the neck dr gallagher could you could you tell me the artery that is in your arm did you say brachial brachial artery is in your arm that's correct and the fem artery that is in your arm? Did you say brachial?

Brachial artery is in your arm. That's correct. And the femoral artery is in the leg. Carotid is in the neck. In the neck. An injury to any one of those by a shotgun is almost fatal, 100% of the time. Now, regarding bulletproof vests, Dr. Gallagher, I mean, I know if you're shot in the chest and you're wearing a vest, it can knock you over and it still hurts. But you're saying a shotgun at close range could actually pierce a bulletproof vest?

Some of the pellets can go through. There are seams in the bulletproof vest that some of the pellets can find their way through the seams. There are some high-powered rounds that can actually go through the vest. And like I said before, the misnomer is bulletproof. No, it's not bulletproof. It is bullet resistant. Some rounds can penetrate the material. Guys, if we all know about the video that this terrified young mom and just beautiful to boot, smart,

beautiful, raising her children on her own. If everybody on social media knows about it, here we are in the studio. We know about it. All the guests know about the video. Why in the hay did the cops know about the video? Well, guess what? They did. Take a listen again, this time to Chief Brian James Gould. He's the chief of the police department in the town of Cheektowica. On Wednesday, September 28th, officers responded to an address in Barbara Place for a complaint that a female victim was punched by her husband. Officers spoke with the victim, Kira Benefield, and based upon their initial investigation, determined that the suspect, Adam Benefield, should be arrested for harassment.

Prior to police arriving at the address on Barbara Place, the suspect had locked himself in the bathroom. Officers were able to gain entry to the bathroom. Due to the condition that the suspect was in when located, officers decided to transport the suspect to ECMC hospital for both a medical and psychological evaluation. Officers filed for a warrant for the suspect and advised the victim to call the police if he returned. I hated everything Chief Brian James Gould just said. I hate everything he just said. Okay, listen. She was punched repeatedly by her husband, but they're only going to charge

him with harassment. Did they not look at the video? That is an aggravated assault. An ag assault is when you hurt someone horribly, like you shoot them, you stab them. An aggravated battery is an ag assault where you actually lose the use of, for instance, your arm. You have to have your arm amputated. You have to have your eye taken out. You lose a finger. All of that is an aggravated battery. It doesn't have to be with a knife or a machine gun or machete.

I prosecuted aggravated assaults with the lethal weapon being fists. And if they had taken the time to look at this video and done the right thing, he would have been charged with ag assault instead of harassment. And listen to this. I mean, did I hear something wrong, Christy Mazurik? Due to the condition the suspect was in, he was taken to the hospital for psychological evaluation after he hides in the bathroom, locks himself in the bathroom like a little boy, seriously, and he gets to the hospital with a box cutter threatening to kill himself. Oh, so he was holding himself hostage. Okay, and then

what do they say to Kiera? Hey, if he comes back, call us. Every one of them should be fired right now. Christy, did I miss something? It's the timeline. Oh. The initial beating takes place at 7.30 in the morning. Cops are called. Yeah.

He holds himself up. You know, the beater, the abuser, threatens to kill himself. They remove him and take him to ECMC. A warrant is issued, but in the time frame of that, she posts the video on Facebook.

Well, wait a minute. They did see the video. Take a listen again. Our cut 11, Chief Brian James Gould. On Sunday night, the victim called police because she thought somebody was in her home. Police responded but did not locate anybody. While speaking with the victim, the victim showed the responding officers the video of the incident from Wednesday. The video showed a much more violent incident than what was originally reported to the original responding officer. Those officers called in detectives to the scene to begin a further investigation that night. On Monday morning the victim met with detectives and based upon new evidence the charges from Wednesday's

incidents were upgraded to a misdemeanor assault charge and other misdemeanor charges. Officers attempted to locate the suspect to arrest him, but were unable to. The suspect did eventually call the detectives back later that night, and he was advised to turn himself in. You know what? This is the moment right here. This is why I was held in contempt, Jackie. Moments just like this. So, obviously, he's sneaking around her house.

She calls police. Police come. He's gone. She shows them the video. They upgrade the harassment to misdemeanor assault. Don't tell me, Chief Brian James Gould, that, oh, my goodness, now I've seen the video. This is much worse than we thought. They saw her bleeding, blood coming out of her nose.

She told them what happened. They saw her and they did not file a felony charge. And what does that mean? Listen. The next morning, Tuesday, the suspect did turn himself in to the Cheekwagon Police Department detectives. He was booked and held to Sierra Court. The detectives notified the court of the threat that the suspect presented to the victim. The CPD domestic violence advocate made contact with the assistant district attorney handling the case and made them aware of the threat that this suspect presented. The

domestic violence advocate was advised that the charges were not qualifying charges and that the suspect could not be held. So the domestic violence advocate insisted that an order of protection be issued. The suspect was arraigned and a stay-away order protection was issued against the suspect. The suspect was released by the court. Operative. Suspect released by court. Okay, Dr. Carolyn West, I hear you in the background and I agree with every groan that you just emitted. Released by the court, they upgraded him to misdemeanors. Are you kidding me? And they release him with a piece of paper. Don't go near her. He's been harassing her for so long. She's wearing a bulletproof vest and she's got video surveillance in her home to record his beatings. And they give him a piece of paper. Really, doctor? And he also had a history

of assaulting other women seriously. So and had been incarcerated for that. Oh, Dr. West, you are so right on. Take a listen to our cut 16 WIVB. Adam Benefield's past includes an escape from a local jail and a violent domestic incident with an ex-girlfriend. Back in March 2000, Benefield was armed with a shotgun when he abducted his estranged girlfriend and another woman on the Kensington Expressway before leading police on a high-speed chase. He was 22 at the time of the incident. Then, in September of the same year, while awaiting trial, he escaped from the Erie County Correctional Facility in Alden by climbing over a 15-foot wall. Did you hear that, Dr. West? Did you hear that?

Again with a shotgun, violence on a woman, escape. He even got over the wall at the jail, a 15-foot wall. And this, I'm just going to say it, idiot judge and prosecutor give him a stay-away order, a piece of paper? So we act like women don't leave or they don't try to protect themselves and in this case sadly you can do everything and it still may not guarantee safety jessica garth you see this type of behavior crime every day in my mind and i hope they hear our program the judge and the prosecutor signed kiera's death warrant they did yes and unfortunately with the charges that they levied against him i think new york law prohibited him from being held on any kind of a bail

but that does start with the decision of the prosecutor you know as to what to charge not only. Not only the prosecutor, but the judge. And here's the judge's name. He needs to be thrown right off the bench. Justice David Stevens. Because the judge can disagree with the prosecutor. And isn't it true, Jessica Garth, that the judge and the prosecutor and the defense attorney, they all have a copy of the defendant's rap sheet. They knew about his prior felonies. They knew he did hard time. They knew he escaped over a 15-foot wall. Absolutely.

But yet, they still let him go on misdemeanors. Criminal mischief in the fourth degree? Really? Nancy, they let him go less than a day before she was murdered. Yes. And it all stems from bail reform. It's being hidden under the term bail reform. It's no reform, but you're right. He's released thanks to Judge David Stevens and the weak spined prosecutor in that courtroom, they let him go on October 4. She is dead October 5. So then he gets away to boot.

Listen to this. Our friends cut 19. Our friends from WKBW. Adam Benefield was caught by Buffalo police and U.S. Marshals this morning, exactly one week after county prosecutors say he shot and killed Kiera Hudson. Benfield now faces a second-degree murder charge, along with three counts of child endangerment. No matter what guidelines you have, there are evil people in our world, and we will see tragedies like this.

We can't speculate. Would he have made bail if there was bail? There's a million things you can look at, but it is extremely frustrating when you try, you have so many steps in place and you know somebody is dangerous. You know there's a clear and present danger, yet the court has no option but to let this person back out into our community. That is total BS. Complete BS. They did have an option. They could have charged him after that vicious beating with aggravated assault. That is a felony. A violent felony. And they could have put him behind bars. For all I know, he violated his parole. But on that charge alone, they signed Kiara's death sentence. They sentenced her three children

to life without a mother. All you mothers out there, think about it. Your child growing up without you to support them, help them, feed them, nurture them, push them forward in life. And now Chief Brian James Gould is trying to tell me, oh, who knows? There's always evil people. There's really nothing we can do about it. You know what? I'd start with getting rid of you, Chief.

And I would also get rid of this. I'm not supposed to curse on air. And I gave it up when the twins were born, Chief. And I would also get rid of this. I'm not supposed to curse on air. And I gave it up when the twins were born, reportedly. Justice, justice, that's BS. David Stevens and the detectives that failed Kiara, they can all go to hell, straight to hell in a handbasket. And not only that, they can go straight to hell in a handbasket from the unemployment line. Okay, voters, you know what to do. Kiara Hudson is dead. Suspect Adam Benefield behind bars for now, unless they let him out again. We wait as justice unfolds. Nancy Grace, Crime Story, signing off.

Goodbye, friend.