New York Police arrest murder suspect in subway burning

The New York Police Department arrested and charged 33-year-old Sebastian Zapeta as part of an ongoing investigation into the murder, police officials told WORLD Tuesday. Zapeta, who was arrested on Monday, faces one arson and two murder charges, the department said.

Prosecutors allege that Zapeta lit a woman on fire at a subway stop in Brooklyn on Sunday, Associated Press reported. Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said the crime was horrific, depraved, and beyond comprehension. He promised that his office would bring the perpetrator to justice.

Who is Zapeta? U.S. Customs and Immigration Enforcement said that Zapeta was a Guatemalan national who was in the United States illegally, the Associated Press reported. Authorities had previously deported him to Guatemala in 2018, but since then he once again entered the country illegally, the media outlet reported, citing ICE.

Dig deeper: Read my report in The Sift about how a jury in nearby Manhattan acquitted a former U.S. Marine on charges of negligent homicide related to the death of a homeless man on the subway.