Five days later, the woman was believed to be homeless they were burnt from travelers inside a * New York City subway car, city officials have not yet been able to confirm its identity.
Investigators may rely on dental records or DNA analysis to identify the victim.
“This just adds another level of tragedy.” David Giffen, director of the Coalition for the Homeless, told the New York Times. “At this point we still don’t know what it is and it can’t be regretted.”
Giffen said the incident is a broader lack of interaction, or empathy, for the city’s homeless. “We cannot forget our humanity in the city,” he said. “That no one knows who this woman is is the saddest story I can imagine for the holidays.”
The horrific early-morning attack on the Brooklyn F train last Sunday shocked the city, with people asking why no one showed up to help, including a police officer on the scene who appeared to help the burning victim.
But the police defended their actions. Joseph Gulotta, the transit chief of the police department, praised the officer who he said stayed at the scene and “kept the crime scene exactly as it was supposed to be,” making sure he observed what was going on.
“I think he did his job perfectly,” Gulotta added. “He got his teammates and MTA workers inside, he got fire extinguishers, and they were finally able to put everyone out.”
A little watch On Thursday, a woman was held at the Stillwell Avenue station in Coney Island, Brooklyn, where the attack took place. Civil rights leader Rev. Kevin McCall said the woman “doesn’t die” and New Yorkers “do something” when they see injustice.
A Guatemalan, Sebastián Zapeta, 33, was quickly arrested for the murder and arson of the woman’s death. He has been charged with murder and arson and is due to appear in court again on Friday.
Authorities allege Zapeta, who federal immigration officials say is a Guatemalan citizen who entered the United States illegally in 2018, was seen on video approaching a woman on a stationary train and setting fire to her clothing.
The New York City Commissioner Jessica Tisch described the case as “one of the worst crimes one person can commit against another person.”
Zapeta was identified by three school teachers after he recognized the person in police photos. He was arrested at a midtown Manhattan subway stop by police, allegedly with a lighter like the one he attacked in his pocket.
Prosecutors claim that Zapeta set the woman’s clothes on fire and used his shirt to light the flames. Zapeta then sat on a bench on the platform and watched as it burned, prosecutors alleged.
But the suspect told authorities that he did not know what happened, noting that he had consumed alcohol and other substances. The assailant and the victim, who died at the scene, are not believed to have known each other and did not meet each other before, investigators said.
An interview for Zapeta was released by police after the arrest coincided with a Brooklyn shelter that provides supportive housing and substance abuse.