Man faces charges in the death of a woman lit on fire in NYC subway

NEW YORK (AP) — New York City police have arrested a man on murder and arson charges in the death of a woman who was set on fire inside a subway train early Sunday morning.

Sebastian Zapeta, 33, was arrested Monday after being taken into custody the previous day. It is unclear if Zapeta has an attorney and when he would be arraigned. Immigration officials say that Zapeta, who is from Guatemala, had been deported before and didn’t have permission to be in the U.S.

Police said surveillance video showed a man calmly approach the woman, who has yet to be identified, aboard a stationary F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station in Brooklyn and then set her on fire.

Her clothing “became fully engulfed in a matter of seconds,” said New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, describing the case as “one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit against another human being.”

The man then sat on a nearby bench outside the train car and watched as officers and a transit worker extinguished the flames, police said.

Here’s what we know:

What’s the latest

Zapeta was taken into custody hours after police disseminated images of a suspect in the woman’s death. Police said three high schoolers called 911 after recognizing the person in the image, and officers found him on another subway train in the same gray hoodie, wool hat, paint-splattered pants, and tan boots.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Jeff Carter said Zapeta is a Guatemalan citizen who entered the U.S. illegally after he had been previously deported to Guatemala in 2018.

It is unclear when and where he reentered the U.S., Carter said.

A Brooklyn address for Zapeta released by police matches a service center for Samaritan Daytop Village, which provides housing and substance abuse support. The organization did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez released a statement that said “we will do everything in our power to ensure accountability in this case.”

What kind of police presence is there on the subway?

Police patrol the New York City subways, and there is a vast network of cameras in stations and in all subway cars.

But the sheer size of the subway system — 472 stations with multiple entry points and millions of riders each day — makes policing it a logistical nightmare.

On Sunday, officers were at the station but were patrolling a different subway platform. They responded after seeing and smelling smoke coming from the fire.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul earlier this year directed members of the state’s National Guard to assist with random bag checks at certain stations.

Is crime up on the subways?

Violent incidents in the subway often put people on edge, in part because many New Yorkers take the train multiple times a day and often have their own experiences with uncomfortable interactions in the system.

Broadly, crime is down in the city transit system this year compared to the same time period in 2023. Data compiled by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority show a 6% decline in what the agency calls major felonies between January and November of this year and 2023.

At the same time, murders in the transit system are up, with nine killings this year through November compared to five in the same time period last year.

High-profile incidents on the train, such as the case of Daniel Penny, a military veteran who choked an agitated New York subway rider and was acquitted of homicide this month, often attract national attention and further unnerve passengers.