Thursday, January 07, 2010
By Jim McKinnon, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Karren Hines said she tried to get her daughter, Uniquea Hines, out of the relationship with a much older man who now is charged with her death early yesterday in Clairton.
"I'm floored behind the whole relationship. I told her he was too old, to find someone else," Ms. Hines said yesterday. "She knew I was against it, but I love my daughter so, I went with it.
"And," Ms. Hines continued, "she wanted her sons to have both parents."
Uniquea, the 23-year-old mother of sons ages 2 and 4, was stabbed to death about 1 a.m. yesterday. Clairton police found her body outside her residence on Bataan Avenue in the Century Townhomes apartment complex.
The father of her sons, Herbert Benson Sr., 44, was arrested after he fled the scene with the children.
The couple began dating when Uniquea Hines was 17 and a basketball star at Clairton High School. She became pregnant with her first son, Herbert Jr., and did not play ball as a senior, her mother said.
Instead, the new mother earned a nurse's aid certificate and got a job.
Karren Hines said her daughter's relationship was abusive from the start. But Uniquea was determined to keep her family together.
"She was a very good mom. She loved people, loved taking care of the elderly, she loved taking care of everybody," Karren Hines said.
Uniquea Hines was able to begin her career after she ended her relationship with Mr. Benson about two years ago.
At least twice since 2005, he faced assault charges that were dismissed in connection with complaints by Ms. Hines, according to court records.
After one incident in August 2007, Ms. Hines sought court protection. She got the order in October 2007, and she and the boys moved into a shelter for battered women.
"She just got a place in November, and he killed her. She was about to move to an apartment closer to me," Ms. Hines said.
A young man had been at Ms. Hines' apartment when Mr. Benson arrived and attacked the new boyfriend, police said. The man, identified in a criminal complaint as Andrew Boatright, 19, told police that Mr. Benson entered an upstairs room, started punching him and Ms. Hines and told them, "Wait here. I got something for you," before leaving the room. Mr. Boatright was able to jump out a second floor window to safety, suffering bruises to the face, head and shoulders, the complaint said.
After stabbing Ms. Hines, police said, the suspect snatched the two children and drove away.
Officers quickly caught up with the car on Halcomb Avenue near Karren Hines' residence.
Mr. Benson abandoned the car, leaving his sons, as he fled between houses before officers captured him.
"He wasn't bringing them here, but God led him," Karren Hines said. "I believe it was nobody but God that brought my grandbabies to me, because he definitely wasn't."
Police almost immediately turned the boys over to their grandmother.
Mr. Benson, a long-haul trucker, had been out of town on driving assignments for several months before he returned for the holidays.
He always sought out his sons when he was in town, and he frequently telephoned them when he was away, Karren Hines said.
Mr. Benson was held in the Allegheny County Jail last night without bail, charged with homicide, burglary, child endangerment, simple assault, fleeing and eluding police and resisting arrest. A preliminary hearing will be Friday.
Staff writer Sadie Gurman contributed. Jim McKinnon can be reached at jmckinnon@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1939.
Read more: http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/10007/1026406-55.stm#ixzz0bvPIMIKP
Police charge Clairton man with homicide in stabbing of ex-girlfriend
By The Tribune-Review
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Last updated: 2:52 pm
Allegheny County police this morning charged a Clairton man with the fatal stabbing of the mother of his two children.
Herbert Benson, 44, was awaiting arraignment in the county jail on charges of homicide, burglary, assault, child endangerment and resisting arrest.
Clairton police were called to Bataan Drive in the Century Town Homes housing plan about 1 a.m. for a domestic dispute, county police said. Officers found Uniquea Hines, 23, on the ground outside the 4800 building. Paramedics pronounced her dead at the scene.
Witnesses described a vehicle they saw fleeing the scene. Clairton police stopped the vehicle after a short chase and arrested Benson, county police said.
Hines and Benson were previously in a relationship and had two children, police said. The children were not harmed during the overnight incident, police said.
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