Illegal migrant indicted on murder charges after woman is burned to death on subway

The illegal migrant accused of burning a New York City subway rider to death on Sunday has been indicted on murder charges. 

Sebastian Zapeta, 33, was indicted on one count of murder in the first degree, three counts of murder in the second degree and one count of arson after a woman was lit on fire and burned to death on a subway train in Brooklyn, New York. The indictment was filed Thursday and will be unsealed at an arraignment hearing on Jan. 7.

Zapeta’s attorney told the judge he spoke with his client Friday and asked for permission to waive his client’s appearance. The judge granted the request. 

Zapeta is a previously deported immigrant from Guatemala who first entered the country in June 2018. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) told Fox News that it has lodged an immigration detainer with the New York City Department of Corrections for Zapeta, but the corrections department has indicated it will not honor the detainer, per its current policy. An immigration detainer is a request by ICE to take a person into its custody. 

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Police and the medical examiner are still working to identify the victim of the attack days after the horror because she was so severely burned.

They have made some progress in identifying her, but Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said he is not at liberty to discuss the progress. Investigators also believe that she was homeless and are working to track down any possible family members.

Surveillance video of Sunday’s attack showed the suspect approaching the woman, who was sitting motionless and may have been sleeping, while aboard a stationary F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station and then setting her on fire.

“As the train pulled into the station, the suspect calmly walked up to the victim,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said during a press conference on Sunday evening, adding that the female victim was in a seated position. “The suspect used what we believe to be a lighter to ignite the victim’s clothing, which became fully engulfed in a matter of seconds.”

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The suspect then stayed on the scene and sat on a bench just outside the train car, as officers and a transit worker extinguished the flames. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene.

Gonzalez said at a Friday press briefing that he believes the case should be tried in state court. His remarks come after New York City Mayor Adams’ office tells Fox News that the mayor believes Zapeta should face federal criminal charges.

“We believe very strongly that this case belongs in state court because the charges here are more significant in state court than currently in federal court,” Gonzalez said. “But we have a very strong working relationship with our federal partners and we always do what’s in the best interests of the people in the state of New York and in the city of Brooklyn (sic) because we want to make sure that he is held fully accountable.”

Zapeta faces life without the possibility of parole on the murder in the first-degree charge, while second-degree murder carries 25 years to life, Gonzalez said. 

“This was malicious. A sleeping, vulnerable woman on our subway system,” Gonzalez added. “This act surprised many New Yorkers as they were getting ready to celebrate the holidays but now New Yorkers are waking up and understanding that on the 22nd of this year, this happened. This was intentional and we hope to prove this.”

Zapeta was apprehended by Border Patrol and subsequently deported by the Trump administration on June 7, 2018 after he crossed illegally into Sonoita, Arizona a week prior, ICE spokesperson Jeff Carter told Fox News. Zapeta later re-entered the U.S. illegally on an unknown date and location, Carter said. 

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The indictment comes weeks after Daniel Penny was acquitted in the subway chokehold death of Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old homeless man with schizophrenia who barged onto a train shouting death threats while high on a type of synthetic marijuana known as K2.

Penny, a 26-year-old Marine veteran and architecture student, put Neely into a chokehold as straphangers on the train said they feared for their safety due to Neely’s threats. 

Penny was charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide but was ultimately acquitted. 

Fox News’ Mollie Markowitz and Stepheny Price contributed to this report.