Suspect in custody after woman fatally set on fire on New York subway

The man who allegedly set it up fire to the woman while she was sleeping ua New York City metro car and watched her die after being engulfed in flames is in custody.

Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, 33, is awaiting charges of murder and arson in the woman’s death.

The incident occurred around 7:30 a.m. Sunday when the unidentified victim was sleeping on board F the train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station.

Zapeta-Calil silently approached the woman and lit her on fire with a lighter, police say. He then left the train and sat on the platform to watch her burn and eventually die, according to police. Body camera footage from responding officers helped identify him and he was taken into custody hours after the attack.

Police have not yet released the identity of the victim.

“Unbeknownst to the responding officers, the suspect remained at the scene and was sitting on a bench on the platform just outside the train car, and the body cameras on the responding officers provided a very clear detailed view of the killer,” NYPD said Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

The images were released to the public, and eight hours later, three high school students recognized the suspect on a Manhattan subway train, Tisch said.

Zapeta-Calil is a citizen of Guatemala. Border Patrol agents first found Zapeta-Calil in Sonoita, Arizona, in June 2018, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Jeff Carter said. CNN.

Agents then granted him an emergency transfer and he was sent to Guatemala six days later, Carter told the agency.

However, the 33-year-old later entered the US illegally, according to Carter. Authorities do not yet know when or where he re-entered the US.

Tisch described the incident as “one of the most depraved crimes that one person could commit against another human being.”

“It was completely engulfed in seconds,” Tisch said.

Officers were alerted by the smoke and extinguished the flames with the help of MTA workers. Graphic footage of the incident that has been circulating on social media appears to show a woman standing on fire inside a train as horrified bystanders look on.

NYPD Transit Police Chief Joseph Gulotta said Sunday that several officers responded to the fire and that one remained to keep the crime scene “the way it should be” while the others went to get fire extinguishers and transit workers.

The woman was pronounced dead at the scene by first responders. She was found with bottles of alcohol around her, although it was not immediately clear if they played any role in the fire, sources said. New York Post.

An MTA worker told the outlet that it looked like the woman’s clothes were completely “burnt.”

The NYPD released a photo of Zapeta-Calilo on Sunday. He was initially described as a man between 25 and 30 years old, approximately five-foot-six and weighing 150 pounds. They said he was last seen wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, a dark knit cap with a red stripe and brown boots.

Zapeta-Calil was taken into custody as a person of interest after police received a tip from three New York high school students who recognized the description and called 911, Tisch said.

He was confirmed to be on the moving train, which was stopped after police radioed and walked from car to car to find him. He was also found with a lighter in his pocket.

“I want to thank the young people who called 911,” Tisch said. “They saw something, they said something and they did something. This is another example of great technology and even greater, old-fashioned police work with a tremendous amount of help from the public.”

New York City Mayor Eric Adams also praised bystanders who alerted police to the suspect.

“This type of depraved behavior has no place on our subways, and we are committed to working hard to ensure swift justice for all victims of violent crime,” Adams wrote in X fast.

In a statement, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez called the attack “a gruesome and senseless act of violence against a vulnerable woman” that “would have the most serious consequences.”

The crime — and its graphic video that ricocheted on social media — deepened a growing sense of unease among some New Yorkers about the safety of the subway system in a city where many residents take the subway multiple times a day.

Overall, according to authorities, crime in the transit system is down this year compared to last year — major crimes are down six percent between January and November of this year and 2023, according to data compiled by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. But the number of homicides is on the rise, with nine homicides this year through November compared with five in the same period last year.