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(Brooklyn, NY) — An illegal Guatemalan immigrant is charged with first-degree murder for allegedly torching a homeless woman on a Brooklyn subway train. He’s been identified as 33-year-old Sebastian Zapeta-Calil. ICE officials say he was detained and deported after crossing the border in Arizona in 2018. At some point, ICE says Zapeta-Calil snuck back into the U.S. and was last known to be living in a homeless shelter in East New York.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch says the two were riding the same “F” train on Sunday morning without any interaction. When the train ended its run, pulling into the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station, Tisch says the suspect walked up to the sleeping woman, poured flammable liquid over her and set her clothes on fire with a lighter.
Police say Zapeta-Calil watched the victim burn to death from a bench on the subway platform. They don’t believe the two knew each other.
