Woman set on fire in New York subway: Who was she?

NEW YORK – Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, accused of setting a woman on fire on a Brooklyn subway train on Sunday, is charged with multiple counts of murder and arson.

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez is expected to announce the formal indictment against Zapeta-Calil at 10 a.m. this morning.

There are also questions about whether Zapeta-Calil will be deported. A spokesman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement said he entered the country illegally.

Meanwhile, a vigil was held for the woman on Thursday. He burned to death. His identity is unknown.

Law enforcement resources wirelFOX 5 NY He said DNA testing has been done, but the victim has not yet been identified. Authorities only know that he is homeless.

This is an evolving story. Check back for updates.

FOX 5 NY will broadcast the press conference live in the live player above.

Who is Sebastian Zapeta-Calil?

Zapeta-Calil was arrested by Border Patrol on June 1, 2018. He crossed illegally into Sonoita, Arizona. He was deported by the Trump administration just a few days later on June 7, ICE spokeswoman Marie Ferguson told FOX News.

“Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, 33, is an illegally existing Guatemalan citizen who entered the United States without being accepted by an immigration official,” a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman said.

Ferguson added that Zapeta later re-entered the United States illegally “at an unknown date and location.”

Timeline of events: What happened to the woman set on fire in the New York subway?

According to police, both the victim and the suspect were traveling on the F train to the Stillwell Avenue Metro station in Coney Island just before 7:30 a.m. on Sunday, Dec. 22.

Police said the two did not know each other.

“With the help of an MTA employee and a fire extinguisher, the flames were extinguished. Unfortunately, it was too late.” NYPD commissioner Jessica Tisch said:

When the train stopped at the end of the line, police said the suspect calmly walked up to the seated woman and set her on fire with his lighter. The woman’s clothes “were completely covered in a matter of seconds,” NYPD commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference Sunday.

“Officers patrolling the upper level of the station smelled smoke and saw smoke and went to investigate. What they saw was a person standing inside the train car completely engulfed in flames,” Tisch said. he said.

It was determined that the unidentified woman died at the scene.

Transit police caught the suspect upon the tip of three high school students who knew him. They had seen images of the man taken from surveillance cameras and police body camera videos and widely distributed by police.

Unbeknownst to officers, the suspect remained at the scene and was sitting on a bench on the subway platform just outside the train car, Tisch said. The body cameras worn by the officers captured a “very clear and detailed look” at the suspect, and the footage was released to the public.

Later, after receiving a 911 call from the teens, other transit officers located the suspect on another subway train and radioed the next station, where more officers held the train’s doors closed, searched each car and eventually apprehended him without incident, he said. Transit Joseph Gulotta. Tisch said that the suspect had a lighter in his pocket when he was taken into custody.

Police identified the suspect as 33-year-old Sebastian Zapeta-Calil. He was charged with murder, among other charges.

Crime and Public SafetyNYC Metro