Woman set on fire at Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue F train stop

December 23, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

The Coney Island (Stillwell Avenue) elevated subway terminal, where four lines, all above-ground, begin and end their journeys. Wikimedia photo by Allie Caulfield

Share this:

CONEY ISLAND — A WOMAN PASSED AWAY AFTER BEING SET ON FIRE in Coney Island at 7:29 a.m. Sunday, according to the NYPD. Police have arrested a Guatemalan immigrant, Sebastian Zapeta, 33, for the crime.

Both the perpetrator and the woman, who appeared to be sleeping, rode the F train to the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station. The attacker approached the woman and lit the woman’s clothing on fire with a lighter, and the flames quickly engulfed her in a matter of seconds, NYPD Commissioner Tisch said at a press conference. The man exited the subway car after torching the woman. The victim remained unidentified as of Monday morning, and died as a result of her injuries.

The arrested man, 33-year-old Sebastian Zapeta, migrated from Guatemala in 2018. Zapeta’s NYC criminal record is clean, with the exception of a traffic summons, says the New York Post. In May 2023, he was living at a shelter on Randall’s Island.

Video footage from the scene shows the attacker looking on while sitting on a bench, as police came to the scene after smelling smoke, before the fire was put out with a fire extinguisher. Police initially asked the individual to stand aside, before the man appeared to walk off.

High-school aged teens who believed they recognized the man from wanted fliers later alerted the NYPD, saying that they saw him at the Jay-York Street subway station. Zapeta was detained at Herald Square. The NYPD says that he had a lighter when he was taken into custody.

“I want to thank the young people who called 911 to help,” Tisch said. “They saw something, and they said something, and they did something.” Tisch said that she and the NYPD believe the act was “one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit against another human being.”