Migrant arrested in connection with NYC subway burning

A migrant from Guatemala was arrested in connection with the horrific death of a woman who was set on fire and burned to death on a subway train in Brooklyn, New York on Sunday.

Sources identified the person of interest to Fox News Digital as 33-year-old Sebastin Zapeta.

While police did not identify the person of interest, a senior NYPD source told Fox News Digital that the person entered the United States illegally from Guatemala in 2018, when President-elect Trump was in his first term as president. The person of interest has no prior arrests in New York City and one prior arrest in Arizona, the source said, although details of the arrest were not available.

Fox News Digital has reached out to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for more information about Zapeta.

New York Police Department (NYPD) officials said no charges had been filed in the case during a press conference Sunday night.

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The NYPD said the killing happened at the Stillwell Avenue Subway station in Coney Island around 7:30 a.m.

Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch gave more insight into the crime during a press conference on Sunday evening.

“As the train entered the station, the suspect calmly walked up to the victim,” she said, explaining that the female victim was in a sitting position. “The suspect used what we believe to be a lighter to ignite the victim’s clothing, which was fully engulfed within seconds.”

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Officers were on patrol at the station when they smelled and saw smoke, prompting them to investigate the situation.

When they arrived, Tisch noted, officers saw a person standing inside the train car completely engulfed in flames. The flames were eventually extinguished with the help of an MTA employee and a fire extinguisher. The victim was pronounced dead, the commissioner said.

Tisch also said the person of interest remained at the scene, sitting on a bench on the platform just outside the train car.

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Body-worn cameras on the responding officers provided a clear and detailed look “at the killer,” Tisch said.

After sharing a description and photos of the suspect with the public, three high school-aged New Yorkers called 911 to report that they recognized the suspect. Transit officers responded to speak with the high school students and also saw a man matching the description given to the public on another moving train.

The train was ordered to stop at the next station, where two transit officers boarded the train and located the person of interest before arresting him without further incident. Tisch added that the person of interest was found with a lighter in his pocket.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said his prayers are with the victim’s family in “this senseless killing.”

“Grateful to the young New Yorkers and transit officers who stepped forward to help our NYPD make a swift arrest following this morning’s heinous and deadly subway attack,” Adams wrote. “This kind of depraved behavior has no place on our Tubes and we are committed to working hard to ensure that there is swift justice for all victims of violent crime.”

The incident shocked people just days before Christmas.

According to the New York Post, an MTA employee said it appeared the woman’s clothes were completely “burnt off.”

“I was just passing by. The police were already there. I didn’t see her on fire, but that’s what I heard. It was out. They turned off the light (in the car) so no one could see,” the worker said. the post.

Another person was nearby when the police processed the scene and the woman’s body was already extinguished.

“It’s crazy — it’s only three days until Christmas,” he told the Post. “It’s messy.”

Police urge anyone with information about the incident to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or, for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).

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Tips can also be submitted by going to crimestoppers.nypdonline.org.