HORRIFYING: Illegal alien arrested for setting sleeping NYC subway rider on fire, watching her burn to death

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From the New York Post: A Guatemalan migrant has been arrested for allegedly lighting a sleeping subway rider on fire in Brooklyn on Sunday morning — then watching as his innocent victim burned to death in what the police commissioner called “one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit.”

The savage killing — which happened at about 7:30 a.m. on an idling F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station — shocked commuters, MTA workers and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who said Sunday that the heinous crime “took the life of an innocent New Yorker.”

“As the train pulled into the station, the suspect calmly walked up to the victim, who was in a seated position at the end of a subway car … and used what we believe to be a lighter to ignite the victim’s clothing, which became fully engulfed in a matter of seconds,” Tisch said at a press conference.

The woman was reportedly sleeping on the train, and the Guatemalan migrant was sitting across from her. He then allegedly got up, walked over and tossed a match on her, setting her on fire.

The man then got off the train, sat down on a bench and watched her burn to death.

In video footage, a police officer is seen walking by, likely to get a fire extinguisher, and the woman is just standing there, engulfed in flames.

Police reportedly first told the man to leave the area, allowing him to get away, not realizing he was the suspect.

Police extinguished the flames, but the victim, who has not yet been identified, died at the scene.  Around 1 p.m., authorities removed the burned corpse in a body bag, placed it on a gurney, and wheeled it to a medical examiner’s van to be hauled away.

The man has been identified as Sebastian Zapeta, 33, from Guatemala.

UPDATE FROM FOX NEWS: A high-level NYPD source told Fox News Digital the individual entered the U.S. illegally from Guatemala in 2018, when President-elect Trump was president during his first term. The person of interest has no prior arrests in New York City and one prior arrest in Arizona, the source said, though details about the arrest were not available.

Charges are still pending over the incident.

Video footage of the horrifying incident is circulating on social media. Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) posted the video and wrote, “In the F Train at Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue, a demented man lit a sleeping woman on fire with a match, causing the victim to burn alive and die at the scene. In New York, dangerous people are allowed to freely roam the subway. Yet the political establishment insists on gaslighting the public with deceptive headlines: “crime is down” and “the subways are safe.””

During a press conference, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch explained, “Unbeknownst to the officers who responded, the suspect had stayed on the scene and was seated on a bench on the platform just outside the train car.

“The body-worn cameras on the responding officers produced a very clear, detailed look at the killer,” she added.

The NYPD released images of the suspect, and later in the day, three high school students reportedly notified police that they saw the man at another train station. When officers arrived, they found the man already on another train leaving the station, wearing the same clothes he had worn earlier.

Officers called and had the train stopped, then went from car to car until they found Zapeta and arrested him.  He still had the lighter in his pocket.

NYC Mayor Eric Adams wrote, “Grateful to the young New Yorkers and transit officers who stepped up to help our NYPD make a quick arrest following this morning’s heinous and deadly subway attack. This type of depraved behavior has no place in our subways and we are committed to working hard to ensure there is swift justice for all victims of violent crime. My prayers are with the family of the victim in this senseless killing.”

Adams’ statement including nothing about the fact that the arrested man is a migrant.

Without making any mention of the suspect’s identity, NY Gov. Kathy Hochul released the following statement:

“A suspect is now in custody for the horrific incident on the F train. Our brand-new security cameras helped law enforcement find the suspect and arrest him.

“Make no mistake: any crime is one too many, even with subway crime going down. We are continuing to surge personnel and resources to make our subways safer.”

WATCH the news report below for more details:

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