Illegal migrant charged with burning woman to death in New York subway 'had been deported before'
24 December 2024, 07:05
A Guatemalan man who has been charged with the murder of a woman who was set on fire in the New York subway had been deported from the US before.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
Sebastian Zapeta, 33, was in the US illegally and had already been removed to his home country previously, officials said.
Zapeta is accused of setting a woman alight on the train and watching as she burned to death on Sunday. He was arrested later that day.
He had come into the US illegally in Arizona in June 2018 and was deported back to Guatemala a few days later, according to Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Officials said that they do not know how or when he re-entered the US. He was said to have been living in a homeless shelter in Brooklyn.
Read more: British Airways cancels all flights between London Gatwick and New York until 2025
Zapeta and the woman, who has not been identified yet, were riding a subway train without any interaction between them to the end of the line in Brooklyn at around 7.30am local time.
After the train came to a stop, surveillance video from the subway car showed the man "calmly" walk up to the victim, who was seated motionless, possibly sleeping, and set her clothing on fire with what appeared to be a lighter.
The woman's clothing then "became fully engulfed in a matter of seconds", Ms Tisch said.
The NYPD believe the two were not known to each other.
Officers on a routine patrol at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station smelled and saw smoke and discovered the woman on fire, standing in the middle of the subway car.
After the fire was extinguished, emergency medical personnel declared the woman dead at the scene.
Unbeknown to the officers, the suspect had remained at the scene and was sitting on a bench on the subway platform, just outside the train car.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said: "The depravity of this horrific crime is beyond comprehension, and my office is committed to bringing the perpetrator to justice.
"This gruesome and senseless act of violence against a vulnerable woman will be met with the most serious consequences."
Zapeta was arrested after police received a report from three high school students who had recognised the man from photographs and police body cam video that was widely distributed by police and the media.
He was charged with second-degree murder and first-degree arson, and is likely to make his first court appearance on Tuesday.
New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch praised the people in her city for helping authorities apprehend the person who may be responsible.
"New Yorkers came through again," she said, before describing the attack as "one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit against another human being".
Body cameras worn by the officers caught a "very clear, detailed look" at the suspect and those images were publicly disseminated.
After receiving a 911 call from the teenagers, other transit officers identified the man on another subway train and radioed ahead to the next station, where more officers kept the train doors closed.
Transit police then searched each car and ultimately apprehended Zapeta without incident, said chief of transit Joseph Gulotta.
The man had a lighter in his pocket when he was taken into custody.
Mr Gulotta said the investigation was continuing, including whether the woman was homeless.
