What to know about the death of a woman who was set on fire in a New York City subway train

NEW YORK — New York City officials are using forensics and video surveillance to identify the woman who burned to death on a subway car in Brooklyn, while the man accused of lighting her on fire was indicted by a grand jury on state charges, prosecutors announced Friday.

Sebastian Zapeta, 33, is accused of setting the woman's clothing ablaze aboard a stopped train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station on Sunday morning.

He has been indicted on murder and arson charges, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said after a brief court hearing Friday. The top charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole, he added.

Attorneys for Zapeta, who federal immigration officials said is a Guatemalan citizen who entered the U.S. illegally, declined to comment.

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.''

Here's the latest in the case:

What do we know about the suspect?

Zapeta was taken into custody on Sunday, hours after police disseminated images of a suspect in the woman's death.

Police said three high schoolers called 911 after recognizing the person in the image, and officers found him on another subway train in the same gray hoodie, wool hat, paint-splattered pants and tan boots.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Jeff Carter said Zapeta is a Guatemalan citizen who entered the U.S. illegally after previously being deported in 2018. It is unclear when and where he reentered the U.S., Carter said.

At an arraignment in Brooklyn criminal court earlier in the week, a prosecutor alleged Zapeta approached the woman on the train and set her clothing on fire. He waved a shirt at her to fan the fire, causing her to become engulfed in flames, then sat on a bench and watched, prosecutor Ari Rottenberg said during the Tuesday court appearance.

The prosecutor said Zapeta claimed he didn't know what happened, noting that he consumes alcohol. But he alleged that Zapeta identified himself in images of the attack to investigators.

Zapeta hasn't yet entered a plea in the case. His indictment will be unsealed in January, Gonzalez said.

A Brooklyn address for Zapeta released by police matches a service center for Samaritan Daytop Village, which provides housing and substance abuse support. The organization did not respond to a request for comment.

What do we know about the victim?

As of Friday, police have only described the victim as a woman.

Gonzalez said officials were making progress on identifying her through fingerprints, DNA, and video surveillance of her movements before the attack.

''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,'' he said.

Tisch said Sunday that the victim was ''in a seated position'' at the end of the train car when she was set on fire. NYPD transit chief Joseph Gulotta said police do not believe the suspect and the victim knew each other and they did not interact before or during the incident.

On Thursday, Rev. Kevin McCall led community leaders in a prayer vigil for the victim at the Coney Island station.

What kind of police presence is there on the subway?

Police patrol the New York City subways, and there is a vast network of cameras in stations and all subway cars.

But the sheer size of the subway system — 472 stations with multiple entry points and millions of riders each day — makes policing it logistically difficult.

On Sunday, officers were at the station but were patrolling a different platform. They responded after seeing and smelling smoke coming from the fire.

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul earlier this year directed members of the state's National Guard to assist with random bag checks at certain stations.

Is crime up on the subways?

Violent incidents on the subway and in stations often put people on edge, partly because many New Yorkers take the train multiple times a day and often have their own experiences with uncomfortable interactions in the system.

Broadly, crime is down in the city transit system this year compared to the same period in 2023. Data compiled by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority shows a 6% decline in what the agency calls major felonies between January and November of this year and 2023.

At the same time, murders in the transit system are up, with nine killings this year through November compared to five during the same time frame last year.

High-profile incidents on the train often attract national attention and further unnerve passengers. Daniel Penny, a military veteran who placed an agitated subway rider in a chokehold, was acquitted of homicide this month. In September, two bystanders and an officer were hit when police opened fire on a man holding a knife in front of a train.

''When you have these incidents, it overshadows the success and it plays on the psyche of New Yorkers,'' said New York City Mayor Eric Adams in a Monday interview on PIX 11, noting that many high-profile incidents in the transit system involve people with mental health issues.