New York Man Accused Of Killing His Estranged Wife While She Sat In Car With Her 3 Children

A man in New York was arrested one week after he allegedly fatally shot his estranged wife while she was in a car with her three children, police said.

The U.S. Marshals Service assisted Buffalo police in taking Adam R. Bennefield, 45, into custody on Oct. 12 in connection with the murder of 40-year-old Keaira S. Hudson, WKBW reported.

Officials said Bennefield shot Hudson while she was sitting in her vehicle with her three children on a Buffalo street around 8:30 a.m. on Oct. 5.

A spokesperson for Hudson’s family, Pastor Tim Newkirk, told WKBW that the suspect was apprehended after he was spotted in a field and witnesses phoned police.

“He was armed and dangerous,” Newkirk told the station, noting that prior to the suspect’s arrest, the victim’s family had been “pushing it on social media and all on the community platforms that we must stick together, work with law enforcement to bring this guy into custody for the heinous crime that he committed on his wife.”

Police, Newkirk noted, “stepped up and they showed that they can be accountable to bring in suspects of that magnitude."

He added, "So, a lot of confidence came back to our inner city and our community showing that we will not stop until that person is brought into custody.”

According to WKBW, the day before the deadly shooting, Bennefield was arrested in connection with a domestic incident but was released.

The Erie County District Attorney’s Office said the defendant allegedly committed the murder while knowingly in violation of an order of protection.

On Sept. 28, a week before Hudson died, Bennefield allegedly assaulted Hudson at their home in Cheektowaga while displaying a knife and a box cutter and preventing her from leaving or calling police, according to the D.A.’s office.

Bennefield has been charged with one count of second-degree murder and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child.