NEW YORK — NYPD arrested man suspicious to turn on fire and kill one women on the Brooklyn subway, an incident that he described as “one of the most perverse crimes” that can be committed.
The suspect, identified by police as Sebastián Zapeta, was arrested by police hours after setting fire to the victim in a New York subway car, which caused his death Sunday morning.
Zapeta, 33, is a Guatemalan citizen who entered the United States illegally after being deported in 2018, said Jeff Carter, a spokesman for Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The official said it is still unclear when and where he re-entered the United States. Federal immigration officials will issue a detainer for him once he is processed for transfer to federal custody.
On Sunday morning, the man “calmly approached the victim” on the F subway line in the Brooklyn borough and set her on fire, New York Police Department Chief Jessica Tisch said at a news conference. .
heinous crime
“He used what we believe was a lighter to set the victim’s clothes on fire, which was completely engulfed in flames in a matter of seconds,” said the officer, who added that after the warning, agents quickly went to the scene and put out the flames with a fire extinguisher. .
After setting the woman on fire, the individual sat down to watch as the woman’s body was engulfed in flames.
“Unfortunately, it was too late and the victim was pronounced dead at the scene,” Tisch said. “It is one of the most depraved crimes a person could commit against another human being.”
After publicly spreading his photo, authorities received an alert from three high school students and arrested him at a Manhattan station.
The police obtained a clear photo of the suspect through the cameras, as he “had stayed at the scene, sitting on a bench on the platform just outside the train car” watching the woman engulfed in flames.
Authorities believe the victim and the suspects did not know each other. According to the New York Police Department, “there was no interaction between the two when the incident occurred.”
