Posted at 10:09 AM, December 26, 2024
NEW YORK (AP) — The man accused of burning a woman to death inside a New York City subway train used a shirt to fan the flames, a prosecutor said Tuesday at his arraignment on murder charges.
Sebastian Zapeta, accused of setting a woman on fire inside a New York City subway train, appears in court, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Curtis Means via Pool)
Sebastian Zapeta, 33, who federal immigration officials said is a Guatemalan citizen who entered the U.S. illegally, was not required to enter a plea and did not speak at the hearing in Brooklyn criminal court.
Zapeta, wearing a white jumpsuit over a weathered black hooded sweatshirt, will remain jailed at the city’s Rikers Island complex and is due back in court on Friday. His lawyer did not ask for bail.
Zapeta is charged with two counts of murder, accusing him of intentionally killing the woman and killing her while committing arson. He is also charged with one count of arson. The top charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez called the attack a “gruesome and senseless act of violence” and said it would be “met with the most serious consequences.”
The apparently random attack occurred Sunday morning on an F train that was stopped at the Coney Island station. The victim’s identification is still pending.
Authorities say Zapeta approached the woman, who may have been sleeping in the train, and set her clothing on fire with a lighter.
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Zapeta then fanned the flames with a shirt, engulfing her in fire, Assistant District Attorney Ari Rottenberg said in court Tuesday.
Zapeta then sat on a bench on the subway platform and watched, Rottenberg said.
According to Rottenberg, Zapeta told detectives that he didn’t know what happened but identified himself in images of the attack.
Zapeta’s lawyer, public defender Andrew Friedman, did not speak to reporters after the arraignment. A message seeking comment was left for him.
Video on social media appears to show some people looking on from the platform and at least one police officer walking by while the woman is on fire inside the train.
NYPD Transit Chief Joseph Gulotta said Sunday that several officers responded to the fire and one stayed to keep the crime scene “the way it’s supposed to be” while the others went to get fire extinguishers and transit workers.
“Officers who were on patrol on an upper level of that station smelled and saw smoke and went to investigate. What they saw was a person standing inside the train car fully engulfed in flames,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said.
They eventually put the fire out,