NEW YORK (PIX11) -- A person of interest is in custody in connection to the death of a woman on a subway in Brooklyn Sunday morning, according to the NYPD.
The woman was asleep on a stopped F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station around 7:30 a.m. Sunday when a stranger lit her on fire, police said.
Officers at the station reportedly smelled and saw smoke and observed the victim in the train car fully engulfed in flames, according to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch. The fire was extinguished and the woman was pronounced dead.
Police say the suspect stayed on the scene and was seated on a bench on the platform outside the train car. Body-worn cameras from responding officers provided a detailed look at the suspect.
After pictures of the suspect were released, three high school-age New Yorkers called 911 saying they saw and recognized him on a train at the York Street station, police say. Officers stopped the train at Herald Square and took the person into custody.
The suspect had a lighter in his pocket, police say.
"This person out one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit against another human being," said Commissioner Tisch in a press conference Sunday afternoon.
When questioned about the suspect, officials said he arrived in the U.S. from Guatemala in 2018. No additional information was made available.
Ben Mitchell is a digital content producer from Vermont who has covered both local and international news since 2021. He joined PIX11 in 2024. See more of his work here.
