Man Charged With Murder In Deadly Brooklyn Home Invasion
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A suspect has been arrested connection with a home invasion in Brooklyn last week that left a 91-year-old man dead.
Dwayne Blackwood, 27, has been arrested and charged with murder, felony assault, and burglary charges. He is not the person of interest seen in the surveillance footage released earlier this week.
The new developments came the same day that family and friends gathered to bid a final farewell to the victim.
A funeral was held for Waldiman Thompson, who went into cardiac arrest and died after he and his wife were tied up and robbed inside their home on Decatur Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant.
Police said several men entered their apartment last Wednesday afternoon, tied them up, and stole a lock box containing thousands of dollars in cash.
His 100-year-old wife, Ethlin, managed to untie herself and call 911.
Earlier this week the NYPD identified two people of interest and released surveillance video of one of them carrying what appears to be a black lock box in his right hand.
Friends and family were gathered for Thompson's funeral at the Hanson Place Seventh Day Adventist Church, where he was a parishioner for decades.
They never imagined they'd be meeting again so soon. Less than two weeks ago, many of them had gathered for a family reunion and now they're uniting to say goodbye.
"It's just sad to see a human being would do another human being like that. It's very sad," said family friend Maislyn Bowen.
Loved ones said the loss for Ethlin has been excruciating. The couple had been married for 30 years.
"They were the sweetest couple I ever met, I've always wanted to imitate their life and the way they live," Bowen said.
"I'm really hoping that's they will find who did such a terrible thing. It's just so wicked," one mourner said.
Thompson's family is choosing to focus on remembering him as a man of deep faith who relished his family. That is what they say is keeping them going as they cling to each other and their memories of him.
"We're strong and we're holding on, we keep going together, we're strong," the victim's nephew, Frederick Thompson, said.
Thompson's widow says despite whats happened to her she forgives the men responsible for her husband's death.