Dog walking mother was shot by her lover’s police husband Last year, she filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the NYPD, arguing that her son’s killer should never have had a gun.
Edward Wilkins, 20, was killed by Officer Sean Armstead, 36, outside Buffalo Wild Wings in Wallkill on May 8, 2022, because he suspected the young man was having an affair with his wife, Alexandra Vanderheyden, 35. .
Wilkins’ mother, Helena Dow, sued the New York Police Department on Thursday, claiming the department should have known Armstead suffered from mental health issues and should not have been allowed to get a gun, or even become a police officer. Manhattan Supreme Court.
Armstead, who was scheduled to work the midnight shift at PSA 8 in the Bronx, said he was sick on the day of the killing and was “inadvertently allowed to seize his service pistol and three rounds of ammunition,” the lawsuit states. .
A jealous cop tracks down Vanderheyden and Wilkins – an employee of a dog walking business — to the La Quinta Inn in Wallkill County.
Wilkins then rammed his car into Wilkins after chasing him down NY-211 before fleeing on foot.
Wilkins — who only made it as far as the Buffalo Wild Wings parking lot — Shot by Armstead Claims outside the restaurant 11 times.
Vanderheyden, who had been with Armstead for nine years, arrived at the scene to find both men dead after her husband also shot himself, sources told The Post in May.
The suit alleges that Armstead was “recklessly allowed to seize his service pistol and three rounds of ammunition while he was previously off duty and had no lawful reason to possess the weapon.”
And the 11-year veteran cop “suffered from mental illness, was a known risk of violence and was psychologically and emotionally unfit to be a police officer and possessed a dangerous … handgun,” the lawsuit alleges.
The lawsuit alleges that the NYPD was negligent in “supervising Armstead and entrusting him with the gun,” which was “a primary factor and proximate cause of Wilkins’ death.”
Wilkins, who caused the tragic murder, “suffered terror before impact and suffered excruciating pain … and agony, including fear of imminent death as his car was struck by Armstead.”
Dow is seeking unspecified compensation. Her suit also includes Armstead’s estate.
“I can confirm that,” Dow’s attorney Michael Kolb of the law firm O’Connor & Partners, PLLC told The Post. [Dow] does [Wilkins’] mother and this matter was very difficult for her.”
I declined to comment further.
Vanderheyden is not named as a defendant in the lawsuit. His work number for Thursday could not be found.
The NYPD declined to comment because the case is ongoing.
The Orange County Fiscal Commissioner is listed as the administrator of Armstead’s estate. A lawyer for the estate declined to comment.
AAdditional reporting by Craig McCarthy
