Buck stops … there: Gov. Hochul points finger at ‘system, judges’ after slain Keaira Bennefield’s mom blames her
Gov. Kathy Hochul insisted Wednesday that everyone else failed Buffalo’s tragic mom-of-three Keaira Bennefield — and not her or New York’s no-cash-bail laws.
The Democrat deflected blame from herself and instead pointed the finger at “the system” and “judges and “prosecutors” after Keaira was executed less than 24 hours after her estranged husband was sprung from jail on no bail over a caught-on-camera beatdown.
“The system absolutely failed her,” Hochul said at a Westchester rally when asked by The Post to respond to the victim’s distraught mom, who has blamed the governor for the barbaric murder.
“The system has to work. Orders of protection have to be granted, transition homes have to be available and we have to make sure that judges and prosecutors charge appropriately.”
In Keaira’s case, an order of protection was issued the same day 45-year-old Adam Bennefield walked free from custody on Oct. 4 because he’d only been charged with misdemeanors over the savage beating of his estranged wife — and couldn’t be held on bail under New York’s reforms.
The following day, police allege, Bennefield executed the mom-of-three.
Critics were quick to lash out at Hochul’s blame game — arguing that the buck should stop with her as governor.
“Kathy Hochul desperately wants to point fingers at everyone for the Bennefield murder. Kathy Hochul should point fingers at herself and the cashless bail law in Albany,” upstate Rep. Elise Stefanik, the House Republican Conference Chair, told The Post.
“Kathy Hochul has failed New Yorkers at every turn. She owns the crime crisis and the devastating loss of life.”
“This is a disgusting, craven new low — even for her,” said Nick Langworthy, state GOP chairman and congressional candidate in upstate District 23 that includes Erie County.
“Kathy Hochul has the power to change these laws today but instead she was their biggest cheerleader and continues to double down,” he continued. “Keaira would still be alive today if she had acted. She is unfit to serve as governor and Election Day can’t come soon enough.”
And her Republican gubernatorial rival, Lee Zeldin, also chimed in, saying “blood is on her hands.”
“Keaira’s three kids will now be growing up without a mother, because of Kathy Hochul’s soft on crime, feckless leadership. She refuses to support judges having discretion to weigh dangerousness,” he said.
Under current Empire State laws, judges cannot weigh the “dangerousness” of a perp in considering bail. It meant that the judge who freed Bennefield could not even consider that he had gone to prison for 15 years previously for kidnapping another ex at gunpoint in 2000.
Hochul has repeatedly doubled down on her support for no-cash-bail, but has previously conceded the laws could use some tweaking. She pitched a 10-point plan to fix aspects of the legislation in March but it won’t be considered until well after her race against Rep. Lee Zeldin is decided on Tuesday’s Election Day.
Nevertheless, the governor played up her modest changes to the bail laws when asked about Keaira’s tragic case.
“The system has to work all together and I have changed bail laws. I have made them tougher than they were before to make sure that we take care of repeat offenders and people who use guns,” Hochul said.
“But I am always willing to take another look again to make sure we protect the citizens of the state — that is my number one job, that is what I’ve been focused on since I first took an oath of office that obligates me to look out for their safety and well being. And that’s what I am going to continue doing.”
Veteran Queens prosecutor James Quinn told The Post that Hochul ‘s claim of having dealt with repeat offenders in the bail law is “not true.”
“You got a guy who was in prison for 15 years for kidnapping a woman and is captured on videotape beating up his wife and the judge can’t set bail under the law,” he said. “If this guy isn’t a repeat offender, what is?
“Gov. Hochul is responsible for not trying hard enough to change the bail law. She doesn’t have the stomach to fight the legislature on it,” he continued. “She’s trying to get past the next election when she says, ‘it’s the system’s fault’. She should deal with the problem.”
The backlash came after Keaira’s mom, Tammy Hudson, ripped into Hochul over her daughter’s slaying, telling The Post in a front page story published Wednesday: “She should be charged for the crime. She’s also responsible for the crime.”
“She failed me. She let me down and my daughter down, and she needs to make a change with the bail reform,” Hudson added.
Hochul responded, saying: “I can understand the pain of a grieving mother. I understand she is looking for someone, and I understand this.”
