The New York mom who threw her two small children over the Niagara Falls, and then jumped to her own presumed death, had been suffering from postpartum depression, her cousin told The Post. Chianti Means did not end her life “over a man” or a breakup, as some have speculated online, said her cousin, Bierra Hamilton. “Understand this — postpartum [depression] is very real and needs a cure,” said Hamilton.
“Her death wasn’t over a man. My cousin was silently fighting depression alone.” Means gave birth five months ago to baby Mecca Means.
Facebook posts showed Means, 33, and the infant’s father ended their relationship in late August. Means and her kids, Mecca and 9-year-old Roman Rossman, were residents of Niagara Falls. Rescuers have been unable to locate their bodies.
The mother worked as a domestic violence counselor, according to her LinkedIn profile, and graduated from school in nearby Buffalo. “My cousin had a beautiful soul,” Hamilton added. “She loved her children and her family very much.
I never had a bad memory with her. [She was] so full of life and wisdom. She and her kids will be missed so much.
” Means is believed to have leapt from Luna Island, one of several popular overlooks perched above the New York side of Niagara Falls. It is one of the more secluded overlooks in the expansive Niagara Falls State Park, separated from the rest of the grounds by a causeway over a river channel, with little more than a chest-high railing separating t.