Background: The Cromarty Criminal Court Complex in Riverhead, N.Y. (Google Maps). Inset: Keyonna Waddell (Suffolk County District Attorney).
A New York woman who attacked her boyfriend with a stick of dynamite now faces more than two decades in prison.
Keyonna Waddell, 35, was found guilty of assault and criminal possession of a weapon on Friday, two years after she and her boyfriend had an argument that ended in a literal explosion. Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said in a press release after the verdict that Waddell and the unnamed victim had a verbal altercation at his apartment on March 22, 2024. After the boyfriend told Waddell to leave, both people left the apartment, and the victim came home and went to sleep.
He thought he was alone.
According to Tierney, the victim believed he was alone in his apartment when he went to bed. While he was asleep, he was “awoken by a hissing sound” and saw fire in his bedroom. When he went to the source of the flames, he discovered a lit stick of dynamite and immediately attempted to extinguish it.
When he was unable to snuff out the fuse, he picked the dynamite up so he could throw it out the window. However, he did not move quickly enough and the explosive detonated while it was still in his hand. Tierney stated, “He felt searing pain and realized that his hand was gone.”
The victim ran out to his driveway, where he saw Waddell fleeing on foot.
According to Tierney, the victim underwent surgery to remove his mangled hand and part of his arm. Further investigation of the incident revealed that Waddell “had threatened the victim with dynamite several times” for months. She was arrested the day after the explosion.
Waddell now faces up to 25 years in prison following her guilty verdict. She is scheduled to be sentenced on May 27.
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