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Topics: US News
Lucy Devine
Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide which some readers may find distressing
Security footage has provided more details about the New York mom who 'intentionally jumped' into Niagara Falls with her two young children.
On Monday (October 28) at around 9pm, New York state police were called to Goat Island at Niagara Falls after tourists reported seeing a mom and her two children heading over the barrier at the top of the waterfall.
Now, security footage has indicated that the woman sent her children over the railing first.
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According to the Niagara Gazette, State Park Police said on Thursday (October 31) that they had reviewed security footage from the area and were able to confirm some of the devastating details.
It is reported that nine-year-old Roman Rossman was sent over the barrier first, followed by five-month-old Mecca Means.
Their mom, Chianti Means, 33, then followed, police reportedly said at a press conference.
Authorities were asked if Means was chasing her children, to which State Police Public Information Officer Trooper James O’Callaghan responded: “No, we believe this was intentional.
“Not going to get into what the witnesses saw because it’s still an active case, but it is alarming what they told us,”
It is reported that Means had written a number of Facebook posts directed at her daughter's father in the weeks leading up to their deaths.
Posting on Facebook last month, she wrote: "I wish someone would love me because the man that’s suppose to does not."
Days later she took to the platform again, writing: "Sick of irritation, anger, sadness and rage.”
The day before her death, she posted: "Unfortunately for everyone who wanna get with me… my body only craves one person. GM."
Speaking on Thursday (October 30) a member of the New York State police said in an interview with WKBW TV: "We've come to the conclusion that a 33-year-old mother, a nine-year-old son and then a five-month-old were all gone over the falls.
"We do believe it was intentional but the circumstances of that investigation and the circumstances of what actually happened are still under investigation.
"But we know that they went over due to the information from park police and some of the information we were able to obtain through multiple different sources in and around Niagara Falls and pieces of evidences we were able to come across in search warrants."
They continued: "They went there and they never came out. So that's where we're at. [...] Like I said there's a lot of safety railings, a lot of security measures at the state park so it's not something where they just stumbled in."
If you or someone you know is struggling or in a mental health crisis, help is available through Mental Health America. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. You can also reach the Crisis Text Line by texting MHA to 741741.