Background: The Cromarty Criminal Court Complex in Riverhead, N.Y. (Google Maps). Inset: Keyonna Waddell (Suffolk County District Attorney).
A New York woman who threw an explosive at her boyfriend will spend nearly two decades behind bars.
Keyonna Waddell, 35, was sentenced on Wednesday to 18 years in prison plus five years of post-release supervision after being found guilty of assault and criminal possession of a weapon. According to a press release from the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office, Waddell was arguing with her former boyfriend on the night of March 22, 2024, when he told her to leave his apartment.
The unnamed victim went to bed, believing he was in the clear. But while he was sleeping, he heard a hissing sound and woke up.
What the man found was a lit stick of dynamite. The man attempted to extinguish the explosive, but could not snuff out the fuse. When he picked up the dynamite to throw it out the window, it went off. Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond Tierney said in the press release that the man "felt searing pain and realized that his hand was gone" following the explosion. He ran out of his home and saw Waddell fleeing the property on foot.
The man was taken to the hospital, where he had the rest of his hand and part of the same arm amputated.
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.
Tierney said in the press release, "This sentence is a measure of justice for a victim who survived an act of unspeakable domestic violence in his own home."
Waddell had faced up to 25 years in prison for her crime.