BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) -- A man who murdered his estranged wife in front of her children in Northeast Buffalo was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison Friday.
He previously served 15 years in prison for an armed kidnapping of two women, one of them an ex-girlfriend.
Adam Bennefield was convicted of killing Keaira Hudson in November. On Oct. 5, 2022, Bennefield shot and killed 30-year-old Hudson on Shawnee and Richlawn Avenues. The incident occurred outside of her car with her three young children in the backseat, including an infant.
Hudson was wearing a bulletproof vest when she was shot in the head and killed.
A tense interaction occurred in court Friday as Bennefield claimed it was against the law to have a completely white jury.
"That is a set-up," he said to the judge. "So if you wanna send me out there, I'll go out there but you know what the law is and you haven't followed it and neither has you, and neither has you. Everybody sat here is ..."
"All right," the judge said. "Hear me out, shut up! Get him out of here!"
On Oct. 4, 2022, the day before the murder, Bennefield was in Cheektowaga Town Court for allegedly assaulting Hudson, but was released with an order of protection.
“We tried our best to get him held the day before, we were unable to do that,” said Acting Erie County District Attorney Michael Keane. “I think that we certainly support more discretions in the hands of the judges.”
A wrongful death lawsuit was filed against Bennefield, the Town of Cheektowaga and Cheektowaga police by Hudson's family in October, alleging that police knew about his violent past.
Keaira's mother Tammie Hudson says he should never again walk free.
"She will never see her son walk, say his first words or see him on his first day of school," she said in court. "As a mother, you can't even image burying your child. He should never get out of jail, not ever."
Bennefield was originally charged with second-degree murder and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
Kayleigh Hunter-Gasperini joined the News 4 team in 2024 as a Digital Video Producer. She is a graduate of Chatham University.
