A 33-year-old mother died after she reportedly stepped over the guardrail at Niagara Falls on Monday and plunged nearly 200 feet with her two young children.
According to the New York Post, Chianti Means jumped to her death with her 9-year-old, Roman Rossman, and 5-month-old baby, Mecca Means. New York State Police arrived at the popular but more secluded Luna Island overlook at around 9 p.m.
The incident was reported by investigators as “intentional.”
According to LinkedIn, Means was a resident of the Buffalo-Niagara Falls area who worked as a domestic violence counselor. She earned her bachelor’s degree in social work from Buffalo State University in 2019 and earned a master’s degree of social work at University at Buffalo in 2020. Stunned friends and family flooded social media with tributes and condolences.
“I am literally sick to my stomach, and I can’t even deal with the emotions I am feeling. Just know her and her children are dearly loved by me and my children,” said friend Mich Molina. Another friend, Kayshawna Morgane, added, “I have been speechless and crying and couldn’t sleep at all…Mental health is no joke.”
As the investigation continues and officials work to locate the victims’ bodies, attention has been called to the last posts Means published to her Facebook page, where she identified as “Diamond Scott.”
The
timeline of Facebook posts before Means’ death appears to repeatedly address a breakup with a baby daddy she referred to in her bio as “Jeff.” “I wish someone would love me because the man that’s suppose to does not,” she wrote on Sept. 28. The post was followed by several others throughout October, one which read, “Everyone, please leave me alone. I’m in love with my daughter [sic] father. I want my family back. Respectfully Idgaf what I said about him before or what anyone else thinks.”On Oct. 19, she reposted a statement from another Facebook user that read, “It feels like everyone sees my mistakes, but no one notices how hard I’m trying.” In response to a reposted question from 2020 that read, “why you and yo ex broke up?” Means responded, “Cause I was a dumb a** pregnant b*tch who swore up & down I ain’t want him.”
“You have to hold on to the ones you love. Never know when you might lose them,” she wrote on Oct. 1.
Luna Island, run by The New York State Office of Parks and Recreation, welcomes visitors to the area 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The park has attracted more than 8 million guests annually.
However, several deaths have been reported to happen over the railing that separates onlookers
from the deadly plunge. The Warrior’s Journey, a platform that provides resources for individuals preparing to serve in the military, reported that thousands have died at Niagara Falls through accidents, suicide, and daredevil attempts.“Surviving the 170-foot drop borders on the impossible,” the website wrote above stories of past victims and survivors.