An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesperson confirmed the suspect accused of setting a woman on fire inside a New York City subway car while she slept is a foreign national living in the United States unlawfully.
“Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, 33, is an unlawfully present Guatemalan citizen who entered the United States without admission by an immigration official,” ICE spokesperson Jeff Carter told the Daily Caller News Foundation.
“U.S. Border Patrol in Sonoita, Arizona, encountered Zapeta June 1, 2018, and served him with an order of expedited removal and Enforcement and Removal Operations removed Zapeta from the U.S. to Guatemala June 7, 2018,” Carter added.
Migrant Accused Of Setting Woman On Fire In NYC Subway Car Is Here Illegally, ICE Confirms https://t.co/vXm3ICQVFU
— zerohedge (@zerohedge) December 23, 2024
Carter said Zapeta reentered the United States unlawfully at an unknown date and location.
Police officials arrested Zapeta, accusing the Guatemalan citizen of intentionally setting the victim on fire while she slept and watching her burn to death.
Per Daily Caller:
The NYPD arrested Zapeta as part of its investigation into the murder of the woman on the subway in Coney Island, New York, ICE confirmed. Once the Guatemalan national is charged and a holding location is released, the agency will lodge an immigration detainer with the NYPD for him.
The attack appears to be a random act of violence, according to a description of the details by police investigators.
“As the train pulled into the station, the suspect calmly walked up to the victim who was in a seated position at the end of the subway car,” New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said during a Sunday press conference about the incident “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.”
Police officers who were on patrol at an upper level of that train station went to investigate after they smelled and saw smoke, according to the commissioner, who called the attack “one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit” against another individual. Upon their arrival to the scene, they found the victim standing in the train car fully engulfed in flames, and made attempts to put the fire out as quickly as possible.
Body cam footage from the police officers later revealed that the suspect, Zapeta, had stayed on the scene to watch the events unfold. Witnesses later identified the man to police and he was ultimately apprehended by the NYPD, and he was found with a lighter in his pocket.
The illegal Guatemalan who burned a woman to death on the NYC subway, Sebastian Zapeta, was deported under Trump's "racist and xenophobic" immigration policies, and then snuck back into our country, but was never deported again under the Democrats' "humane and compassionate" open… pic.twitter.com/bPef4bBpe7
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) December 23, 2024
Footage surfaced on social media of police officials arresting Zapeta in the subway system.
WATCH:
BREAKING NEWS:
Sebastian Zapeta, an illegal alien from Guatemala, has been identified as the man who set a woman on fire on a New York subway. This horrific act could have been prevented if the Biden administration had deported him when they had the chance. This is the result of… pic.twitter.com/VZOaKR8HVQ— Angry Citizen 🆇︎ (@AngryCitizenxx) December 23, 2024
Independent reports:
The woman was pronounced dead at the scene by first responders. She was found with liquor bottles surrounding her, though it was not immediately clear if they played any part in the fire, sources told the New York Post.
An MTA worker told the outlet that it looked like the woman’s clothes were completely “burned off.”
The NYPD released a photo of the Zapeta-Calil on Sunday. They initially described him as a male between 25 and 30 years old, approximately five foot six, and weighs 150 pounds. They said he was last seen wearing a gray hooded sweatshirt, blue jeans, dark-colored knitted hat with a red stripe, and brown boots.
Zapeta-Calil was taken into custody as a person of interest after police received a tip off from three New York high school students who recognized the description and called 911, Tisch said.
He was confirmed to be on a moving train, which was stopped after police radioed ahead and walked from car to car to find him. He was also found with a lighter in his pocket.
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