A Brooklyn grand jury has voted to upgrade the charges against Sebastián Zapeta, the man accused of setting fire to a subway passenger last week, to first-degree murder, meaning that the 33-year suspect is facing life without parole if convicted.
“It’s the most serious statute in New York state law, and my office is very confident about the evidence in this case and our ability to hold Zapeta accountable,” the Brooklyn district attorney, Eric Gonzalez, told reporters after a hearing in Brooklyn criminal court on Friday.
“This was a malicious deed, a sleeping vulnerable woman on our subway system. This was intentional, and we move to prove this in the court of law,” Gonzalez added.
Five days after the unidentified woman, believed to be homeless, was burned to death by a passenger inside a New York City subway car, city officials have not been able to confirm her identity.
Investigators may have to rely on dental records or DNA analysis to make an identification of the victim.
“It just adds another level to a tragedy,” Dave Giffen, director of the Coalition for the Homeless, told the New York Times. “At this point, we still don’t even know who she was and she can’t be mourned.”
Giffen said the incident underscored a broader lack of interaction, or empathy for, the city’s homeless population. “We can’t forget our humanity as a city,” he told the outlet. “The fact that nobody knows who this woman is the saddest story I can imagine during the holidays.”
The early-morning attack on a Brooklyn F train last Sunday has horrified the city, with questions being asked about why it appears no one stepped in to help, including a police officer at the scene who appeared to fail to assist the burning victim.
However, police have defended their actions. Joseph Gulotta, the chief of transit for the police department, commended the officer who he said stayed at the scene and “made sure he kept the crime scene the way it’s supposed to be, made sure he kept an eye on what was going on”.
“I think he did his job perfectly,” Gulotta added. “As his fellow officers went and got MTA workers, got fire extinguishers, and eventually were able to extinguish the individual.”
A small vigil was held on Thursday for the woman at the Stillwell Avenue station in Coney Island, Brooklyn, where the attack took place. The civil rights leader the Rev Kevin McCall said the woman “didn’t have to die” and called on New Yorkers to “do something” when they see injustice.
Zapeta was quickly arrested on murder and arson charges in connection with the woman’s death. He has now been charged.
Gonzalez, the Brooklyn district attorney, told reporters the indictment would be unsealed on 7 January. The top charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole, he added.
Authorities allege Zapeta, who federal immigration officials say is a Guatemalan citizen who re-entered the US illegally after being deported in 2018, was seen in video approaching the woman on a stationary train and setting her clothing on fire.
The New York City police commissioner, Jessica Tisch, has described the case as “one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit against another human being”.
Zapeta was identified by three high-schoolers who recognized the person in police pictures. He was arrested at a midtown Manhattan subway stop by police, allegedly with a lighter like the one used in the attack in his pocket.
Prosecutors allege Zapeta set the woman’s clothing on fire and fanned the flames using a shirt. Zapeta then sat on a bench on the platform and watched as she burned, prosecutors allege.
The suspect reportedly told authorities he did not know what happened. The assailant and victim, who died at the scene, are not believed to have known each other and did not interact before or during the incident, investigators said.
An address for Zapeta released by police after his arrest matches a shelter in Brooklyn that provides housing and substance abuse support.
