Suspect accused of burning woman to death on NYC subway is previously deported illegal immigrant

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NYPD arrests migrant who allegedly set fire to woman on subway

‘Fox & Friends First’ hosts Carley Shimkus and Todd Piro discuss NYPD apprehending suspected illegal migrant who allegedly set fire to woman on subway and watched her burn to death.

The migrant from Guatemala who was arrested in connection to the heinous death of a woman set on fire and burned to death on a subway train in Brooklyn, New York, on Sunday was previously deported.

Sebastin Zapeta, 33, has been charged with first- and second-degree murder, as well as first-degree arson.

Zapeta was arrested by Border Patrol on June 1, 2018, after he crossed illegally into Sonoita, Arizona, and was deported by the Trump administration just days later on June 7, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson Marie Ferguson told Fox News.

Ferguson added that Zapeta then re-entered the U.S. illegally “on an unknown date and location.”

NYPD ARRESTS MIGRANT WHO ALLEGEDLY SET WOMAN ON FIRE ON SUBWAY TRAIN, WATCHED HER BURN TO DEATH

NYPD officers escort a suspect wanted for a homicide on the F Train in Coney Island from a precinct in Lower Manhattan on Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (Courtesy: G.N. Miller/New York Post)

She added that after Zapeta is charged and details of where he is being held are released, Enforcement and Removal Operations “will lodge an immigration detainer with the NYPD location where he is being held.”

The Kings County District Attorney’s office said in a statement Monday that they “don’t have a timeline for that.”

Surveillance video showed the suspect calmly approaching the woman, who was sitting motionless and may have been sleeping, while aboard a stationary F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station and then setting her on fire.

The New York Police Department did not immediately respond to a Fox News Digital inquiry about the victim’s identity.

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Police investigate the scene where a woman died after being lit on fire by a man aboard an MTA subway train as she slept at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station in Brooklyn, New York, on Sunday, Dec. 22, 2024. (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)

Her clothing “became fully engulfed in a matter of seconds,” said New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, describing the case as “one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit against another human being.”

The suspect then sat on a nearby bench outside the train car and watched as officers and a transit worker extinguished the flames. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police believe the woman had been sleeping aboard the train when a man approached her and set her on fire. She was pronounced dead at the scene. (Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)

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He was arrested hours later while riding on the same subway line. Tisch added that the person of interest was found with a lighter in his pocket.

“The depravity of this horrific crime is beyond comprehension, and my office is committed to bringing the perpetrator to justice,” the DA’s office said. “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. I commend the NYPD for their swift work in apprehending the suspect.”

Fox News’ Seth Andrews and The Associated Press contributed to this report.