Man indicted in horror subway burning

December 30, 2024 Brooklyn Eagle Staff

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez pledges justice for the subway fire victim. AP file photo by Jennifer Peltz

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez pledges justice for the subway fire victim. Photo by Jennifer Peltz/AP

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CONEY ISLAND – THE CHIEF SUSPECT in the horrific burning death of a woman on an F train last week was indicted Friday on charges of first- and second-degree murder, as well as arson, reports the Associated Press. Guatemalan migrant Sebastian Zapeta, 33, is accused of lighting the currently unidentified victim on fire and fanning the flames with a t-shirt, according to prosecutors. Graphic footage of the event appears to show a man who resembles Zapeta sitting on a platform bench and watching the fire as police approach the scene; Zapeta was apprehended soon afterwards at Herald Square, after a group of Brooklyn teens believed they recognized him from police images and reported him.

Brooklyn D.A. Eric Gonzalez said that the city is working to identify the woman through DNA and fingerprint testing and other means; she had been sleeping on the train and appeared to use a mobility aid. “Our hearts go out not only to this victim, but we know that there’s a family. Just because someone appears to have been living in the situation of homelessness does not mean that there’s not going to be family devastated by the tragic way she lost her life,” Gonzalez said.