A man has been detained and charged with murder and arson after a woman was set ablaze on a New York City subway train over the weekend, authorities and federal officials announced Monday.
According to New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, the victim was on a New York City train at 7:30 a.m. Sunday when the suspect approached her and purposely set her on fire. Tisch stated that the defendant was sitting on a station seat near the train car while the woman burnt before escaping and responding police’ body cams captured his image.
Tisch called the incident “one of the most depraved crimes one person could commit against another human being.”
On Monday, an NYPD official confirmed that Sebastian Zapeta, 33, was arrested on murder and arson charges at about 1:10 p.m. local time.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Jeff Carter said early Monday that the suspect, named Zapeta, is a Guatemalan who entered the country unlawfully and was deported in June 2018 but later returned. According to Carter, it is unclear when and where he unlawfully entered the United States again.
“Once he is charged and released from his holding location, ERO (Enforcement and Removal Operations) will file an immigration detainer with the NYPD location where he is being held,” Carter said in a statement.
Mayor Eric Adams thanked “the young New Yorkers and transit officers” who assisted in the arrest of someone regarded as a person of interest on another subway train a few hours after the “heinous” attack.
“This type of depraved behavior has no place in our subways and we are committed to working hard to ensure there is swift justice for all victims of violent crime,” Adams wrote on Instagram.
Sunday’s death came only days after New York Gov. Kathy Hochul, MTA CEO Janno Leiber, and law enforcement authorities announced plans to improve subway safety.
“A suspect is now in custody for the horrific incident on the F train,” Hocul said in a statement. He added that new surveillance cameras “helped law enforcement find the suspect and arrest him.”
Earlier this year, the governor proposed a five-point plan to improve subway safety in the city, utilizing state resources. Hochul first dispatched 750 state National Guard men, 250 state troopers, and MTA police officers. The initiative was developed in response to a series of high-profile incidents on the city’s subway system, including a fatal shooting on an elevated train platform and the injury of a train conductor in a slashing attack.
Developments:
On Sunday, a stabbing attack on a Queens subway train left one person dead and another injured, according to authorities.
According to Reuters, the city’s subway system sees approximately 4 million visits per weekday. According to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, as of November, nine homicides have been reported on the subway system in 2024, compared to five in the same period in 2023. Overall, the agency recorded a 6% decrease in major offenses, including murder, rape, felony assaults, and robberies, between January and November of this year compared to the same period in 2023.
Responding cops discovered the woman ‘completely enveloped in flames’.
According to Tisch, police believe the culprit ignited the victim’s clothing using a lighter. Officers monitoring an upper level of the subway station smelt and observed smoke went to check, and found the man “fully engulfed in flames,” Tisch said.
Officers and a Metropolitan Transportation Authority employee were able to put out the fire, but the person was declared dead on the spot. The victim was not identified. According to police, CCTV shows the guy sitting on a nearby bench, watching authorities douse the flames before departing the area.
