Caregiver charged with murder of 91-year-old Jamaican man in New York

Livern Barrett, Gleaner Writer

Prosecutors in the United States have alleged that the woman employed as a caregiver for the 91-year-old Jamaican man, who died during a home invasion robbery in New York City two weeks ago, was the mastermind behind the "sick crime".

Suzette Troutman, 45, was arrested yesterday by the New York Police Department and charged with second-degree murder, burglary and two counts of assault.

Her nephew, Dwayne Blackwood, 27, was arrested last Friday and charged with the same offences.

The police report that Waldiman Thompson, who migrated from Jamaica decades ago, died of a heart attack on October 11 after two men entered the Brooklyn home he shared with his wife, Ethlin, and tied them up before escaping with US$5,000.

Ethlin, who is 100 years old, managed to escape and called for help. When police arrived, her husband was found unconscious and facedown near his bedroom with a blanket wrapped around his head and a pillow pressed to his face, the New York Daily News reported.

"She took care of the Thompsons. She used her trust to betray them and commit this crime," Assistant District Attorney Bernarda Villalona was quoted as saying.

Villalona said prosecutors have evidence showing Troutman dropping off Blackwood and a second robber in a black Nissan motorcar with a 3-year-old inside.

However, her attorney Gregory Watts has insisted that none of the video footage show that his client was involved in the robbery and denied that she drove the alleged robbers to the Thompsons home.

"She didn't plan it. She didn't direct it. She took care of the family who were like family to her. She is innocent, innocent," the Daily News quoted him as saying.