A 33-year-old Guatemalan man was arrested on suspicion of murder and arson after a woman was burned to death on a New York City subway train over the weekend, police and U.S. authorities said Monday.
Sebastian Zapeta was arrested about six hours after police said he used a lighter to set fire to the clothes of a woman who appeared to be dozing on a stopped train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station in Brooklyn.
The suspect entered the U.S. without authorization in 2018 and was deported to Guatemala a few days later, and it was unclear when he re-entered the U.S. illegally, the country’s Department of Homeland Security said.
Police said there appears to have been no prior interaction between the attacker and the victim, who has not been identified.
Zapeta is in custody. He was arrested on a subway train on Sunday afternoon and had a lighter in his pocket, police said.
Metro employees and police officers who were patrolling the station used fire extinguishers to put out the flames that engulfed the woman, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
“The depravity of this horrific crime is beyond comprehension, and my office is committed to bringing the perpetrator to justice,” Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said Monday. “This horrific and senseless act of violence against a vulnerable woman will suffer the most serious consequences.”
This content was originally published in Police identify suspect in case of woman burned to death in NY subway on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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