(Updated editor’s note: The man has been charged with murder.The story is available here.)
NEW YORK A guy is awaiting arraignment on Tuesday after allegedly setting a lady on fire inside a subway train in New York City and then watching her perish as she was consumed by the flames.
As of Tuesday morning, Sebastian Zapeta, 33, had not yet been before a judge despite being detained on Monday on allegations of murder and arson in connection with the woman’s death.
Zapeta is a Guatemalan national who entered the US illegally after being deported in 2018, according to federal immigration officials.
The attack, which seemed to be random, happened aboard a halted F train at Brooklyn’s Coney Island station on Sunday morning. On Tuesday, police stated that the victim’s identity was still pending.
According to authorities, Zapeta went up to the woman, who was sitting still in the train car and might have been sleeping, and lit her clothes on fire with a lighter.
According to police, the suspect sat at a bench on the subway platform and watched as the woman swiftly caught fire.
Social media footage seemed to show the woman standing inside the burning train while at least one police passes by and some onlookers watch from the platform. Several cops reacted to the fire, and one remained to maintain the crime scene as it should be while the others went to obtain fire extinguishers and transit workers, according to NYPD Chief of Transit Joseph Gulotta on Sunday.
Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch stated that although they were eventually able to put out the fire, it was too late and the victim was declared dead at the site.
Following a tip from some youngsters who identified him from police-circulated photos, Zapeta was arrested Sunday afternoon while traveling by train on the same subway line.
Zapeta’s lawyer status was unknown. Police have revealed a Brooklyn address for Zapeta, which corresponds to a shelter that offers both lodging and assistance with substance misuse. A request for comment was not immediately answered by the shelter.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez described the incident as a mindless and horrific act of violence against a defenseless woman that will have the most severe repercussions in a statement.
In a city where many people use the subway system several times a day, some New Yorkers’ growing concerns about the safety of the system were heightened by the crime and the graphic footage of it that went viral on social media.
According to data produced by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, significant felonies decreased 6% between January and November of this year and in 2023, indicating that overall, crime is lower in the metro system this year than it was last year. However, there have been nine homicides so far this year through November, up from five at the same time previous year.
A Manhattan jury earlier this month cleared former Marine Daniel Penny of any involvement in the chokehold death of an irate subway passenger last year. The episode turned into a focal point in the system’s ongoing discussions about mental illness, homelessness, and safety.
Given the extensive network of trains that are always traveling between the 472 stations in the system, each of which has various access points and, in many cases, multiple floors and platforms, policing the subway is also challenging. According to authorities, cops at the station where the woman was killed by fire were on patrol in another location on Sunday when they noticed and smelled smoke.
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