NEW YORK — A man faces first-degree murder charges for allegedly setting a woman on fire while she slept on the New York City subway.
Sebastian Zapeta, 33, was charged Monday with first- and second-degree murder and arson the shocking crime on an F train in Coney Island, Brooklyn over the weekend, police said.
Zapeta was arrested the day of the subway fire after police said three teenagers recognized him from photos released by the NYPD. Police said body camera footage and cameras inside subway cars showed him sitting on the platform and watching the woman burn.
Immigration officials said Zapeta re-entered the US at some point after being sent back to Guatemala in 2018. He did not know the woman who was burned to death and there was no interaction between them before the attack , according to the police.
A woman set fire to an F train in Brooklyn
NYPD
The unidentified woman caught fire while sleeping on an F train around 7:30 a.m. Sunday at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station, police said.
“The suspect used what we believe to be a lighter to ignite the victim’s clothing, who was fully engulfed within seconds,” said NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch. a press conference on Sunday evening.
Officers at the station smelled smoke and saw her engulfed in flames inside the subway car. With the help of a traffic worker, they got a fire extinguisher, but said the woman died at the scene.
“Unbeknownst to the responding officers, the suspect had remained at the scene and was sitting on a bench on the platform just outside the train car, and the cameras that brought the body to the officers who went responded produced a very clear and detailed look at the killer,” Tisch said. “Three high school-aged New Yorkers called 911 to say they recognize the suspect. They saw something and said something and did something.
After receiving the tip, detectives said they arrested Zapeta at the 34th Street-Herald Square station within hours of the incident. He was wearing the same clothes as the person Tisch described and had a lighter in his pocket, they said.
US immigration officials sent the suspect to Guatemala in 2018
NYPD
Zapeta was handcuffed when officers removed him from Coney Island’s 60th Precinct on Monday. Police said he lives in a men’s shelter in East New York.
According to Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials, Zapeta was an “unlawfully present Guatemalan citizen who entered the United States without the admission of an immigration official” in 2018 and returned to Guatemala less than a week later
ICE officials said they do not know when or where he re-entered the US
“The depravity of this horrific crime is beyond comprehension, and my office is committed to bringing the perpetrator to justice. This horrific and senseless act of violence against a vulnerable woman will have the most serious consequences,” he said. said Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez. in a statement. “All New Yorkers deserve to feel safe on our subways, and we will do everything in our power to ensure accountability in this case.”
Sources said Zapeta could be arraigned this evening.
contributed to this report.
