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Man accused of lighting NYC subway rider on fire told cops he 'drinks a lot,' prosecutor says
By
Brittany Kriegstein
and
Samantha Max
Published Dec 24, 2024
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Curtis Means for Daily Mail/Pool
By
Brittany Kriegstein
and
Samantha Max
Published Dec 24, 2024
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The man accused of lighting a woman on fire on the F train and killing her told police that he drinks heavily and "doesn't know what happened," a prosecutor said at the man's arraignment on murder and arson charges Tuesday.
In Brooklyn criminal court, Assistant District Attorney Ari Rottenberg said Sebastian Zapeta, 33, approached the woman as the train pulled into the Stillwell Avenue station around 7:30 a.m. Sunday, set her clothing on fire and fanned her with a shirt, engulfing her in flames. As fire spread throughout the car, Rottenberg said, Zapeta stepped out of the train, sat on a bench and watched her burn to death.
The medical examiner’s office ruled the woman’s death a homicide by combination of smoke inhalation and thermal injuries and has not yet been able to identify her, the prosecutor said.
Police arrested Zapeta at the Herald Square station after three teens spotted him on the subway and recognized him from video footage. After his arrest, according to Rottenberg, Zapeta told law enforcement that he “drinks a lot of liquor.”
Zapeta was escorted into the courtroom around 12:30 p.m., dressed in a white jumpsuit. Justice Jung Park ordered that he be held in jail without bail while a grand jury decides whether to indict him. Rottenberg said “not even a significant monetary bail would be significant enough,” and Zapeta’s defense attorney didn’t object. He sat quietly throughout the brief proceeding and stared straight ahead as the judge spoke to him through a Spanish interpreter.
Zapeta's defense attorney, Andrew Friedman, declined to comment after the arraignment.
Zapeta came to the United States from Guatemala and was in the country without authorization after being deported in 2018, according to Jeff Carter, a spokesperson for Immigration and Customs Enforcement. ICE told Gothamist on Monday that the agency planned to ask for an immigration detainer with the city.
The mayor’s office said Zapeta arrived in New York City before the city's migrant influx began in April 2022. His last known address appears to be a location that houses a substance abuse treatment facility on Forbell Avenue in East New York.
A video of the killing that was captured on surveillance footage has spread across social media, punctuating fears about crime in the city’s mass transit system. The deadly fire was one of several acts of violence on the subway last weekend, including one in which prosecutors say a man fatally stabbed someone trying to rob him. There have been 11 homicides in the transit system this year, up from five by this time last year, according to police data.
But criminal justice experts note that violence on the subway is still exceedingly rare, given that about 4 million people commute daily. And transit crime overall is down more than 6% compared to this time last year, according to NYPD data.
Still, the fatal subway encounter touches on many of the polarizing topics at the center of the current political debate in New York City: subway safety, homelessness, mental illness and immigration. It also comes on the heels of the criminal trial of Daniel Penny, a former Marine who was accused of fatally choking Jordan Neely, a homeless man with schizophrenia and substance abuse issues, on an uptown F train in 2023. That incident was also caught on camera and raised questions about what subway riders should do when another passenger appears to be experiencing a mental health crisis. A Manhattan jury acquitted Penny of criminally negligent homicide after days of deliberations.
Correction: A previous version of this story misstated the number of teens who authorities say spotted Sebastian Zapeta after seeing police-released video footage.
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Brittany Kriegstein
Brittany Kriegstein covers all breaking news around New York City, with a focus on crime and gun violence. Got a tip? Email Brittany at [email protected].
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Samantha Max
Samantha reports on whether New Yorkers feel safe and whether the institutions that are supposed to protect them are working. Before coming to WNYC/Gothamist, she spent three years covering the criminal justice system in Tennessee for Nashville Public Radio. Her reporting on Nashville's police department received multiple awards, including the Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize. Samantha was also part of the inaugural class of Report for America, a service journalism program that sends up-and-coming reporters to local newsrooms across the country. She is a Northwestern University grad, a Baltimore native and fluent in Spanish. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal: samanthamaxwnyc.93.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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