Disturbing footage shows a man accused of setting a woman on fire and killing her allegedly watching her burn as cops walked by.
The suspect, identified as Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, a 33-year-old migrant from Guatemala, appeared to sit on a bench at a subway platform in Brooklyn in front of an F train car while a blaze burned inside.
Zapeta-Calil allegedly fanned the inferno at one point as the woman was engulfed in flames on Sunday morning, the Daily Mail reported.
‘This is a person right here,’ someone could be heard shouting in a video clip.
A New York Police Department (NYPD) officer waved helplessly at the scene but did not detain Zepeta-Calil.
‘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, and the body-worn cameras on the responding officers produced a very clear detailed look at the killer,’ said NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch.
The suspect approached a woman who was ‘motionless’ in the train car as it neared the Stillwell Avenue station around 7.30am, said police. Authorities initially said the woman was sleeping.
CCTV footage from inside the car showed the suspect setting a blanket over the woman on fire and the victim standing up already covered in flames, according to CNN.
Police released body camera images of the suspect and three high school-aged New Yorkers notified cops.
Zapeta-Calil was arrested about eight hours later on a train at the Herald Square station in Midtown Manhattan, said NYPD Chief of Transit Joseph Gulotta.
He had a lighter in his pocket.
The victim has not been identified. Authorities do not believe she and the suspect knew each other.
Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chief Security Officer Michael Kemper called it a ‘brutal murder’.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez called the ‘depravity of this horrific crime is beyond comprehension’.
‘My office is committed to bringing the perpetrator to justice,’ he stated.
‘This gruesome and senseless act of violence against a vulnerable woman will be met with the most serious consequences.
‘Every New Yorker deserves to feel safe on our subways, and we will do everything in our power to ensure accountability in this case.’
The incident happened just three days after Governor Kathy Hochul announced that 250 National Guard members would be deployed across the city’s subway system to boost safety during the holidays.
Zapeta-Calil entered the US illegally sometime after being caught by Border Patrol agents in Sonorita, Arizona, in June 2018 and removed, said US Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson Jeff Carter.
He will receive an immigration detainer, said Carter.
Zapeta-Calil has been charged with first-degree murder and arson. His address was a homeless shelter for men with substance abuse issues in East New York.
It comes also as President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to see through massive deportations when he returns to the White House next month.
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