Everything we all know concerning the lady fatally burned on the New York City subway | EUROtoday

The man accused of lighting a lady on hearth on a New York City subway and fanning the flames as she burned to demise made his first look in courtroom on Tuesday, whereas authorities had been but to publicly determine the sufferer.

Sebastian Zapeta, 33, was arraigned on homicide and arson costs on Tuesday afternoon in a Brooklyn courtroom, the place he was remanded again to custody. He didn’t enter a plea and his lawyer didn’t converse to reporters assembled contained in the courthouse.

Authorities allege Zapeta — who federal immigration officers say is a Guatemalan citizen who entered the U.S. illegally — calmly approached the lady aboard a stationary F practice on the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station in Brooklyn on Sunday morning and set her clothes ablaze.

New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch on Sunday described the case as “one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit against another human being.”

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What do we all know concerning the suspect?

Zapeta was taken into custody on Sunday, hours after police disseminated photographs of a suspect within the lady’s demise.

Police stated three excessive schoolers referred to as 911 after recognizing the particular person within the picture, and officers discovered him on one other subway practice in the identical grey hoodie, wool hat, paint-splattered pants and tan boots.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Jeff Carter stated Zapeta is a Guatemalan citizen who entered the U.S. illegally after he had been beforehand deported to Guatemala in 2018. It is unclear when and the place he reentered the U.S., Carter stated.

He was arraigned in Brooklyn legal courtroom on Tuesday, showing earlier than a decide whereas sporting a white jumpsuit. He didn’t converse. His subsequent courtroom date is scheduled for Friday.

Assistant District Attorney Ari Rottenberg, throughout Tuesday’s courtroom listening to, alleged Zapeta lit the lady’s clothes on hearth and fanned the flames utilizing a shirt.

Rottenberg added that beneath interrogation Zapeta claimed he didn’t know what occurred, noting that he consumes alcohol. But he alleged that Zapeta recognized himself to interrogators in photographs of the assault.

A Brooklyn handle for Zapeta launched by police matches a service heart for Samaritan Daytop Village, which gives housing and substance abuse help. The group didn’t reply to a request for remark.

What do we all know concerning the sufferer?

The sufferer had not been publicly recognized as of Tuesday. An NYPD spokesperson stated earlier within the day that an identification was nonetheless “pending at this time.” Police have described her solely as a lady.

Tisch stated at a press convention on Sunday that the sufferer was “in a seated position” on the finish of the practice automobile when she was set on hearth. Joseph Gulotta, the division’s chief of transit, added that police don’t imagine the suspect and the sufferer knew one another, and that they didn’t work together earlier than or throughout the incident.

What form of police presence is there on the subway?

Police patrol the New York City subways, and there’s a huge community of cameras in stations and in all subway vehicles.

But the sheer measurement of the subway system — 472 stations with a number of entry factors and hundreds of thousands of riders every day — makes policing it logistically troublesome.

On Sunday, officers had been on the station however had been patrolling a special platform. They responded after seeing and smelling smoke coming from the hearth.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul earlier this 12 months directed members of the state’s National Guard to help with random bag checks at sure stations.

Is crime up on the subways?

Violent incidents on the subway and in stations usually put individuals on edge, partly as a result of many New Yorkers take the practice a number of instances a day and infrequently have their very own experiences with uncomfortable interactions within the system.

Broadly, crime is down within the metropolis transit system this 12 months in comparison with the identical interval in 2023. Data compiled by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority reveals a 6% decline in what the company calls main felonies between January and November of this 12 months and 2023.

At the identical time, murders within the transit system are up, with 9 killings this 12 months by way of November in comparison with 5 in the identical time-frame final 12 months.

High-profile incidents on the practice usually entice nationwide consideration and additional unnerve passengers. Daniel Penny, a navy veteran who positioned an agitated subway rider, was acquitted of murder this month.

“When you have these incidents, it overshadows the success and it plays on the psyche of New Yorkers,” stated New York City Mayor Eric Adams in a Monday interview on PIX 11, noting that many high-profile incidents within the transit system contain individuals with psychological well being points.