Suspect identified in the killing of woman set on fire on New York subway
Police have named the man arrested for allegedly setting fire to a woman while she was sleeping in a New York City subway car.
The incident occurred on Sunday morning at around 7:30 a.m. when the unidentified victim was asleep on board a stationary F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station. Hours later, police arrested 33-year-old Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, officials announced Monday.
Zapeta-Calil silently approached the woman and lit her on fire using a lighter, police say. He then left the train and sat on the platform to watch as she burned and ultimately died, according to police. Body camera footage from the responding officers helped identify him.
Police have yet to release the identity of the victim.
“Unbeknownst to the officers who responded, the suspect had stayed on the scene and was seated on a bench on the platform just outside the train car, and the body-worn cameras on the responding officers produced a very clear detailed look at the killer,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
Zapeta-Calil is a Guatemalan citizen. Border patrol agents first found Zapeta-Calil in Sonoita, Arizona, in June 2018, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson Jeff Carter told CNN. Agents then served him with an expedited removal and and he was sent to Guatemala six days later, Carter told the outlet.
However, the 33-year-old later unlawfully re-entered the US, according to Carter. Authorities don’t yet know when and where he re-entered the US.
Tisch described the incident as “one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit against another human being.”
The was “fully engulfed in a matter of seconds,” Tisch said.
Officers had been alerted by smoke and extinguished the flames with the help of a MTA employee. Graphic footage of the incident circulated on social media appeared to show fire coming out of the car while horrified bystanders looked on.
The woman was pronounced dead at the scene by first responders. She was found with liquor bottles surrounding her, though it was not immediately clear if they played any part in the fire, sources told the New York Post.
An MTA worker told the outlet that it looked like the woman’s clothes were completely “burned off.”
The NYPD released a photo of the Zapeta-Calil on Sunday. They initially described him as a male between 25 and 30 years old, approximately five foot six, and weighs 150 pounds. They said he was last seen wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, dark-colored knitted hat with a red stripe, and brown boots.
Zapeta-Calil was taken into custody as a person of interest after police received a tip off from three New York high school students who recognized the description and called 911, Tisch said.
He was confirmed to be on a moving train, which was stopped after police radioed ahead and walked from car to car to find him. He was also found with a lighter in his pocket.
“I want to thank the young people who called 911 to help,” Tisch said. “They saw something, and they said something and they did something. This is another example of great technology and even greater, old fashioned police work with a huge assist from the public.”
New York City Mayor Eric Adams also praised the bystanders who alerted police about the suspect.
“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 in an X post.
