Keyonna Waddell faces up to 25 years in prison at sentencing.
RIVERHEAD, N.Y. — A Deer Park woman was convicted Friday of assault and weapons charges after prosecutors said she threw a lit explosive device into her boyfriend’s bedroom, causing a blast that led to the loss of his hand and part of his arm.
Keyonna Waddell, 35, was found guilty after a jury trial in Suffolk County Court of first-degree assault and first-degree criminal possession of a weapon, Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney said. The conviction stems from a March 22, 2024, attack inside the victim’s apartment after an argument between Waddell and the man, who has not been publicly identified. Waddell faces up to 25 years in prison when she returns to court May 27.
Prosecutors said the couple argued inside the victim’s apartment before both left the residence. The man told Waddell to leave, and when he later returned, he did not see her and went to sleep. He woke to a hissing sound and saw a flame on the floor of his bedroom, prosecutors said. He then saw what appeared to be a stick of dynamite. The man tried to put out the flame but could not, authorities said. He picked up the device and tried to remove it from the room before it exploded in his hand.
The blast caused severe injuries and left the man in searing pain, prosecutors said. He ran from the apartment to the driveway and screamed for help. Authorities said he saw Waddell running away from the scene on foot after the explosion. Responding police took him to Nassau University Medical Center for emergency treatment. Doctors later amputated the rest of his hand and part of his arm because of the damage from the blast. Prosecutors said investigators later learned Waddell had threatened the victim with dynamite several times in the months before the attack.
Tierney said the case showed how quickly domestic violence can turn life-threatening. “Domestic violence can escalate to deadly levels, and this case is a sobering reminder of that reality,” Tierney said after the verdict. He said Waddell had been held accountable and would face a long prison sentence for what he called a horrific act. The district attorney’s office said Waddell was arrested March 23, 2024, one day after the explosion. Officials have not publicly detailed where the device came from, how it was built or whether anyone else handled it before the attack.
The case was tried before state Supreme Court Justice Richard I. Horowitz. The top counts are class B violent felonies under New York law. Prosecutors said the evidence showed Waddell used an explosive device as a weapon during a domestic dispute and that the victim’s injuries were permanent and catastrophic. The jury returned the guilty verdict April 24, more than two years after the attack. Public reports did not list an immediate statement from Waddell or her defense attorney after the verdict.
The attack took place in Deer Park, a hamlet in western Suffolk County where local police and emergency responders first handled the scene. The victim’s trip from the bedroom to the driveway became a key part of the prosecution’s account because authorities said he saw Waddell fleeing after the blast. The case also drew attention because of the unusual weapon described by prosecutors. Authorities repeatedly called it an explosive device resembling a stick of dynamite, while some reports described it as homemade.
The district attorney’s office did not release the victim’s name or a full medical update beyond the amputations described after the explosion. Prosecutors also did not say whether the victim testified publicly during trial or whether the court sealed any medical records. The main facts released after the verdict focused on the March 2024 argument, the lit device in the bedroom, the failed attempt to move it, the explosion, the victim’s injuries and Waddell’s arrest the next day.
Waddell is scheduled to return to court May 27 for sentencing. Until then, the case remains in the post-verdict stage, with the court set to decide her punishment on the assault and weapons convictions.
Author note: Last updated April 27, 2026.