Who is Helen Dow? Mom of man killed by jealous cop Sean Armstead over alleged affair with wife sues NYPD
Warning: This article contains recollection of crime that may trigger some readers. Discretion is advised.
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WALLKILL, NEW YORK: Helena Dow, the mother of Edward Wilkins who was shot and killed by his lover's cop husband Sean Armstead in 2022, has sued the NYPD for his wrongful death. Armstead, 36, killed Wilkins, 20, and then shot himself outside a Buffalo Wild Wings in Wallkill on May 8, 2022, because he thought the younger man was having an affair with his 35-year-old wife Alexandra Vanderheyden.
On Thursday, January 26, 2023, Wilkins' mother filed a lawsuit against the NYPD, alleging that the department ought to have known that Armstead had mental health issues and that he shouldn't have been permitted to own a firearm or even work as a police officer. On the day of the murder, Armstead, who was meant to be working a midnight shift at PSA 8 in the Bronx, called in sick, according to the lawsuit. Things started to get a little heated when the cop discovered that his wife was staying at the Wallkill, upstate New York, La Quinta Inn with Wilkins, a worker at her dog walking company. Amstead, driven by anger and jealousy, struck Wilkins with his car and pursued him to NY-211 while Wilkins ran away on foot.
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Wilkins only made it as far as a Buffalo Wild Wings parking lot, according to the lawsuit, when Armstead shot him 11 times outside the restaurant. A source who spoke with the New York Post in May last year claimed that Vanderheyden, who had been married to Armstead for nine years, discovered both men dead when she arrived at the scene. A self-inflicted gunshot had also been fired by her husband.
'This matter has been very difficult for her'
The lawsuit claims that Armstead was "negligently permitted to take possession of his service handgun and three clips of ammunition" despite having previously called in sick, being off-duty, and being ineligible to possess the weapons.
The lawsuit claims that the 11-year veteran officer was "suffering from mental illness, was a known risk to engage in violence, and was psychologically and emotionally unfit to be a police officer and possess a dangerous... handgun."
The lawsuit asserts that the NYPD's supervision of Armstead and giving him access to a firearm, which "was a substantial factor and a proximate cause of the death" of Wilkins, was reckless. In the moments before Armstead rammed Wilkins' car, the lawsuit claims that Wilkins experienced "pre-impact terror and suffered excruciating pain... and agony including fear of imminent death."
Dow has filed a claim for unspecified damages and has also mentioned Armstead's estate in her lawsuit. "I can confirm that [Dow] is [Wilkins’] mother and this matter has been very difficult for her," Dow's attorney Michael Kolb of the firm O'Connor & Partners, PLLC told the New York Post.