Police were searching Thursday night for a suspect in the slaying of a woman in Buffalo as officials explained why he was released from custody the day before the killing and called on New York to change its bail laws to prevent similar tragedies.
Law enforcement is looking for Adam R. Bennefield, 45, to question about the death of his estranged wife, Keaira Bennefield, 40, who was shot in front of her children in her SUV at 8:30 a.m. Wednesday at Shawnee and Richlawn avenues in the city's Leroy neighborhood.
The homicide came one day after Adam Bennefield was released from custody on his own recognizance by a Cheektowaga Town Court judge following an arrest for an earlier domestic incident against Keaira Bennefield that occurred Sept. 28, according to Cheektowaga police chief Brian Gould.
After surrendering to detectives Tuesday for additional charges that evolved from the Sept. 28 incident, Bennefield was charged with several misdemeanors – including assault – that are not bail eligible, Gould said. A stay-away order was issued to the suspect, the chief added.
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Gould told reporters at a news conference Thursday that he previously joined a contingent of police chiefs in a meeting with local leaders to take umbrage with New York's stance on bail reform.
"New York State is the last state that doesn't take into account the dangerousness of a defendant to the community when considering bail," Gould said. "We hope that our elected officials consider those changes."
Gubernatorial candidate Rep. Lee Zeldin, a Republican running against Gov. Kathy Hochul, also attended the news conference and criticized the state's bail laws.
Gould said his department has "learned from previous tragedies" of domestic violence, but emphasized Bennefield was a person-of-interest in a homicide just one day after he was arraigned on assault charges against the same victim.
Buffalo Police Commissioner Joseph Gramaglia in a news conference Thursday afternoon urged anyone who encounters Adam Bennefield to call 911, but not to intercede themselves, as Bennefield is potentially armed and considered dangerous. Crime Stoppers Buffalo is offering a $7,500 reward for information leading to the suspect's whereabouts.
"This is an awful, awful, tragic ending to a domestic violence incident," Gramaglia said.
Gould detailed the assault case against Bennefield, which evolved after the initial call to Bennefield's Barbara Place residence Sept. 28, where a woman said she'd been punched by her husband. Gould said that because of the condition in which officers found Adam Bennefield locked in the bathroom, he was taken to Erie County Medical Center for medical and psychological evaluation. Cheektowaga police filed a warrant for Bennefield's arrest after the suspect left ECMC.
According to a release from the Erie County District Attorney's Office, Bennefield reportedly displayed a knife and box cutter during the incident and was accused of preventing the victim from leaving the residence and taking her cell phone to prevent a call for help.
The charges against Bennefield worsened as the Cheektowaga Police Department's domestic violence advocate and detectives uncovered more information later in the week. Gould said Keaira Bennefield told the domestic violence advocate that she had suffered injuries and had video of the incident, Gould continued.
On Sunday night, Keaira Bennefield called Cheektowaga police again when she believed an intruder was in her home. When police arrived and did not find anyone, she showed law enforcement a video showing a more severe instance of domestic violence than what was originally reported to an officer Sept. 28, Gould said.
She met with detectives Monday to discuss new evidence, and detectives decided to upgrade the initial charges to misdemeanors, Gould said. Detectives reached Bennefield, who turned himself in Tuesday.
When Adam Bennefield was released after the arraignment, the domestic violence advocate worked with Keaira Bennefield to find safe housing. She decided to stay at her mother's house.
The homicide occurred the next day.
Gramaglia said the homicide suspect's vehicle did not pull over for Buffalo police on Wednesday, maneuvering through a congested area and entering the Kensington Expressway headed in the wrong direction. Police later found the suspect's vehicle and gathered evidence, said Gramaglia, who believes the suspect is still in the area.
Pastor Timothy Newkirk of GYC Ministries said he is spearheading the community portion of the search for Bennefield.
In a post on Facebook, Newkirk said Keaira Bennefield was wearing a bulletproof vest at the time of her death.
MonTaysha Jeter, Keaira Bennefield's sister, told The News that the situation is "horrible." She said her sister felt endangered by Bennefield before yesterday's shooting.
Newkirk was frustrated with the law enforcement response, given the detail that Bennefield was on the loose and potentially armed. Newkirk said there was no official identification of the suspect or alert from police until three hours after the shooting.
"He's a threat to the community. He's a threat to women. He's a threat to children," Newkirk said.
Bennefield had been imprisoned from about 2000 to 2015 for the attempted kidnapping of two women and then an escape from Erie County Correctional Facility in Alden in 2000, The News reported previously.
Bennefield, described as "mentally troubled" at the time of his 2000 arrest, drove a stolen car to cut off the vehicle of his estranged girlfriend, The News reported, and then forced the ex-girlfriend at gunpoint to drive to Grand Island with police chasing them.
Bennefield, who was 22 at the time, then escaped the correctional facility by climbing over a 15-foot fence and a roll of razor wire at the top and was at-large for 19 hours, The News reported.
When police traced the manhunt to a friend's house, Bennefield "locked himself in the flat, cut his wrists with a kitchen knife and threatened to blow up the building with fumes from a gas stove," according to The News' report. His trial was delayed due to a psychiatric evaluation, The News reported.
News Staff Reporter Dale Anderson contributed to this story.
