Authorities have identified the woman who tragically lost her life after being set on fire while she slept on a Brooklyn subway train, as horrified passengers witnessed the chilling event. Law enforcement officials revealed her identity on Tuesday.
The victim, originally from New Jersey according to sources, had been asleep on an F train at the Stillwell Avenue-Coney Island station around 7:30 a.m. on December 22 when she was deliberately set on fire. Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, an undocumented immigrant from Guatemala, now faces first-degree murder charges for his role in the horrific incident.
Disturbing footage captured the accused man fanning the flames as the woman burned, before sitting calmly on a bench on the platform, watching her suffer.
The Coalition for the Homeless has reported that the woman was homeless at the time of the attack.
Authorities have withheld the woman’s name to allow for family notification, though they confirmed her identity was determined through fingerprints.
One source shared with The NY Post that the woman was alive when the fire was set, and that she had a walker and several bags nearby at the time.
Due to the extent of the burns, the city medical examiner faced difficulty identifying the victim, relying on dental records once it became impossible to obtain usable fingerprints.
Zapeta-Calil, who has been charged with first- and second-degree murder as well as arson, is currently being held without bail at Rikers Island.
Federal immigration authorities confirmed that Zapeta-Calil illegally entered the United States in 2018, was deported shortly afterward, but managed to re-enter the country and make his way to New York City.
By March 2023, he was residing in the city’s shelter system.
A friend from the Brooklyn shelter where Zapeta-Calil was last living told The Post that the suspect had an addiction to the synthetic drug K2 and would drink heavily each day.
According to the accused, he had been so intoxicated that he could not recall setting the fire.
“He smoked K2, drank and bugged out,” said Raymond Robinson, a fellow shelter resident who had slept near Zapeta-Calil until his arrest.
Robinson further explained, “He would bug out and talk to himself when he was high, but never harmed nobody but himself. That’s why this [messed] my head up because I slept next to him and he was never like that. I wouldn’t leave my daughter with anybody but he was the type of dude I could trust.”
“As long as he wasn’t high,” Robinson added.
{Matzav.com}
when there were pictures of her all over real news?
when there were pictures of her all over real news since 2 days after the attack?
I’m confused. They used fingerprints or didn’t use fingerprints?
When you’re dealing with the keystone cops, nothing is surprising.
This horrific scenario proves Rav Avigdor Miller’s answer to a man who asked what an Orthodox Jew can do when attacked with eggs by a gentile and the police do nothing:
“Don’t think that gentiles don’t suffer from gentiles. I’ll tell you a little secret. The gentiles suffer more from gentiles than Jews suffer from gentiles. It’s a fact; only we pay no attention.”
“A friend from the Brooklyn shelter where Zapeta-Calil was last living told The Post that the suspect had an addiction to the synthetic drug K2 and would drink heavily each day.” Now this savage has really cozy accommodations.
Yup. You and me pay for this bums free goodies with our tax dollars.