Police have arrested the man accused of burning a woman to death on an F train in Brooklyn, and ICE officials said the suspect had come to the U.S. illegally. NBC New York’s Brittany Miller reports.
New York City police arrested and charged a man suspected to have set a woman on fire in the subway early Sunday and then watched from a bench as she became engulfed in flames and died.
Surveillance video showed the man calmly approach the woman, who was sitting motionless and may have been sleeping, while aboard a stationary F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station and then set her on fire with a lighter.
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. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene. Video that had been circulated on social media showed the suspect allegedly sitting and watching the woman in flames.
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The man was arrested hours later while riding the same subway line, though his charges were not announced until Monday afternoon.
The suspect and victim did not appear to know each other and did not interact before the incident, police said.
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Sebastian Zapeta-Calil was arrested Sunday in the disturbing killing of the woman on the subway, police said. The victim's name has not yet been released.
Zapeta-Calil, 33, was charged with first- and second-degree murder, as well as first-degree arson. Attorney information for Zapeta-Calil was not immediately clear.
A statement from Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) identified Zapeta-Calil as a Guatemalan citizen who had entered the U.S. illegally. He previously had encountered Border Patrol in Arizona in June 2018, and he was deported days later. It was not clear when or where Zapeta-Calil had reentered the U.S.
Federal officials said they will file a request for Zapeta-Calil to be turned over to ICE after he is finished with the court process in the criminal matter. That immigration detainer could allow for him to be deported.
Prior to his arrest, authorities had circulated images of Zapeta-Calil from surveillance cameras and police body camera videos taken at the crime scene. A group of high school students tipped off police to the man's presence on a train later on Sunday, and he was taken into custody.
He was wearing the same clothes and had a lighter in his pocket when he apprehended, police said.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez released a statement that said “we will do everything in our power to ensure accountability in this case.”
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.
What kind of police presence is there on the subway?
Police patrol the New York City subways, and there are 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 — make policing the transit system a logistical nightmare.
In Sunday's incident, 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. A spokesperson for the governor also said it was thanks in part to security cameras aboard the subway that helped police catch the suspect.
"Governor Hochul directed the MTA to install security cameras on every single subway car, and those cameras helped law enforcement put a suspect behind bars," said Press Secretary Avi Small. Criminals should be on notice: New York is watching you, we will catch you, and we will prosecute this crime to the fullest extent of the law."
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 10 killings this year compared to five in the same time period in 2023.
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.
