Chianti Means, 33, reportedly climbed over a safety railing at Luna Island – between the American Falls and Bridal Veil Falls – on the night of October 28, 2024, per the Daily Mail.
She was accompanied by her nine-year-old son Roman Rossman, and five-month-old daughter Mecca Means.
All three are believed to have gone over the edge together in what police describe as an intentional act.
Security footage obtained by investigators reportedly shows Roman being sent over first, followed by Mecca, and then Means herself.
The footage and other evidence reviewed during search warrants led police to suspect the act was deliberate.
“We do believe it was intentional, but the circumstances of that investigation and the circumstances of what actually happened are still under investigation,” a member of the New York State Police told WKBW TV.
“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 evidence we were able to come across in search warrants.”
Means, a domestic violence counselor living in the Buffalo-Niagara Falls area, was also known on Facebook under the name Diamond Scott.
Her social media posts in the weeks leading up to her death reveal a pattern of heartbreak, regret, and emotional turmoil.
One post read: “I wish someone would love me because the man that’s suppose [sic] to does not.”
Another from October 1 said: “Everyone please leave me alone I’m in love with my daughter’s father. I want my family back. Respectfully Idga* what I said about him before or what anyone else thinks.”
On October 14, she reflected on their breakup, writing: “‘Cause I was a dumb a** pregnant b***h who swore up and down I ain’t want him.”
She added: “I need all the positive energy I can get.”
Just three days earlier, on October 11, she wrote: “I just wanna become a calm woman when it comes to any situation. My biggest goal is calmness right now. I’m so sick of irritation, anger, sadness and rage.”
Her final message, posted just a day before the tragedy, read: “Unfortunately for everyone who wanna get with me… my body only craves one person. GM.”
The Niagara Gazette reported that Means had graduated from Buffalo State University in 2019 with a degree in social work, and later earned her Master of Social Work from the University of Buffalo.
In a statement to The New York Post, state troopers confirmed: “The investigation has determined that this incident was intentional in nature, though the circumstances remain under investigation.”
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