EGN NEWS DESK
NEW YORK — The man accused of lighting a lady on fireplace on a New York City subway and fanning the flames as she burned to demise made his first look in courtroom this week, whereas authorities had been but to publicly determine the sufferer.
Sebastian Zapeta, 33, was arraigned on homicide and arson fees 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 communicate to reporters assembled contained in the courthouse. His subsequent courtroom date is scheduled for Friday.
Authorities allege Zapeta, who federal immigration officers say is a Guatemalan citizen who entered the U.S. illegally, calmly approached the girl 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 “some of the wicked crimes one individual might presumably commit in opposition to one other human being.”
Here’s the most recent:
What do we all know in regards to the suspect?
Zapeta was taken into custody on Sunday, hours after police disseminated photos of a suspect within the girl’s demise.
Police mentioned three excessive schoolers known as 911 after recognizing the individual 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 mentioned 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 mentioned.
Zapeta was arraigned in Brooklyn prison courtroom on Tuesday. He appeared earlier than a judge in a white jumpsuit and didn’t communicate.
Assistant District Attorney Ari Rottenberg, throughout Tuesday’s courtroom listening to, alleged Zapeta lit the girl’s clothes on fireplace and fanned the flames utilizing a shirt.
Rottenberg added that below interrogation Zapeta claimed he didn’t know what occurred, noting that he consumes alcohol. But he alleged that Zapeta recognized himself to interrogators in photos of the assault.
A Brooklyn handle for Zapeta launched by police matches a service middle for Samaritan Daytop Village, which supplies housing and substance abuse help. The group didn’t reply to a request for remark.
What do we all know in regards to the sufferer?
The sufferer had not been publicly recognized as of Thursday, an NYPD spokesperson confirmed. Police have described her solely as a lady.
Tisch mentioned at a press convention on Sunday that the sufferer was “in a seated place” on the finish of the practice automobile when she was set on fireplace. Joseph Gulotta, the division’s chief of transit, added that police do not consider the suspect and the sufferer knew one another and that they didn’t work together earlier than or through the incident.
What type 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 all subway vehicles.
But the sheer dimension of the subway system — 472 stations with a number of entry factors and hundreds of thousands of riders every day — makes policing it logistically tough.
On Sunday, officers had been on the station however had been patrolling a distinct 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 typically put folks on edge, partly as a result of many New Yorkers take the practice a number of occasions 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 timeframe final 12 months.
High-profile incidents on the practice typically appeal to nationwide consideration and additional unnerve passengers. Daniel Penny, a army veteran who positioned an agitated subway rider in a chokehold, was acquitted of murder this month.
“When you’ve gotten these incidents, it overshadows the success and it performs on the psyche of New Yorkers,” mentioned New York City Mayor Eric Adams in a Monday interview on PIX 11, noting that many high-profile incidents within the transit system contain folks with psychological well being points.
