Second Suspect Arrested In Connection To Deadly Bed-Stuy Home Invasion

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT – The NYPD announced Monday night that a 45-year-old Canarsie woman has been arrested in connection to the home invasion in Bed-Stuy earlier this month that left 91-year-old Waldiman Thompson dead.

Suzette Troutman was arrested last night and charged with second-degree murder, two counts of second-degree assault, and two counts of burglary, police say. Dwayne Blackwood, 27, of East New York was arrested last Friday in connection to the case and faces the same charges. He has pleaded not guilty, according to NY 1. The New York Daily News reports that Blackman is Troutman’s nephew.

Waldiman and Ethlin Thompson reportedly hired Troutman approximately two years ago to assist them with their shopping and housekeeping, according to the Daily News. Troutman allegedly told her accomplices about the couple and where they kept money in their home, the New York Post reports.

On October 11, investigators say video footage shows Troutman driving Blackman and another individual, whom the police are still searching for, to the Thompsons’ home and waiting for them in the car during the robbery. The Post reports that Troutman also had a three-year-old child with her in the car during the time of the incident.

According to reports, the robbers followed 100-year-old Ethlin Thompson into her ground-floor apartment on Decatur Street and tied up her and her husband before ransacking their home.

After the suspects left, Ethlin was able to untie herself and call 911. When police arrived to the scene, they found her husband lying on the floor, still tied up and unresponsive. EMS transported him to Interfaith Hospital where he was pronounced dead. Investigators say the incident caused Waldiman to suffer cardiac arrest. Ethlin’s injuries were not serious.

Funeral services were held for Waldiman Thompson on Friday, October 20—the same day police arrested Blackwood.