Previously Deported Guatemalan Charged with Murder for Setting Sleeping Woman on Fire on NYC Subway

Dec 23, 2024, 06:28 PM

A Guatemalan migrant has been arrested and charged with murder after allegedly setting a sleeping woman on fire on a New York City subway train, resulting in her death. The incident occurred on Sunday morning on a stationary F train at Coney Island, Brooklyn. The suspect, identified as 33-year-old Sebastian Zapeta, is accused of igniting the woman's clothing and then watching as she burned to death. Zapeta first entered the U.S. illegally at the Arizona border in 2018 but was deported shortly after. He later re-entered the United States illegally as a 'gotaway' and had been living in New York City's shelter system since April 2023. Police apprehended Zapeta after a civilian identified him on another train.