Previously Deported Migrant Arrested After Sleeping Woman Set on Fire on Brooklyn Subway

Dec 23, 2024, 02:10 PM

A woman died after being set on fire while sleeping on a New York City subway train on Sunday morning. Surveillance video shows a suspect calmly approaching the victim aboard a stationary F train in Brooklyn, using a lighter to ignite her clothing, and then watching as she burned. Police have arrested 33-year-old Guatemalan national Sebastian Zapeta-Calil in connection with the incident. Authorities allege that Zapeta-Calil first entered the United States illegally at the Arizona border in 2018 and was deported shortly after. He re-entered the country at an unknown date and had been residing in New York City's shelter system since April 2023. The New York Police Department is investigating the incident as a homicide.