This week will mark two years since Keaira Hudson was shot and killed in front of her children in Buffalo.
It’s a case that sparked a larger conversation about domestic violence and protections for victims. It now has renewed attention with Hudson’s family suing the Cheektowaga Police Department and Town of Cheektowaga accusing them of failing to step in against her alleged abuser and killer — her husband.
It was October 5, 2022, when Hudson was shot in her SUV on the corner of Richlawn and Shawnee Avenue . Her husband Adam Bennefield was arrested one week later and charged with second-degree murder .
Her family told me that the day before her death Bennefield was arrested for allegedly punching and kicking her in their Cheektowaga home but released the same day.
Buffalo police investigating fatal shooting, mother of three shot dead near Shawnee and Richlawn Avenues
The lawsuit filed by Hudson’s mother on Tuesday accuses the Town of Cheektowaga and its police department of failing to properly charge Bennefield and keep him behind bars. The lawsuit says this gave Bennefield the opportunity to kill Hudson the next day.