Critics are calling out the so-called “Daniel Penny effect” after several witnesses and even a police officer appeared to stand by without offering assistance during the burning death of an innocent woman on a New York City subway car. I'm vehemently criticizing it.
The heinous crime was allegedly committed by an illegal immigrant who targeted the sleeping woman. Sources said the woman was so badly burned that she still remains unidentified days after the horror.
Investigators believe she was homeless and are trying to trace possible family members.
Sanctuary city New York forced to make drastic changes after woman allegedly burned alive by illegal immigrant
Sources previously identified Fox News Digital's person of interest as Sebastian Zapeta, 33, who has been charged with first- and second-degree murder and first-degree arson.
Sebastian Zapeta, accused of setting a woman on fire on a New York City subway train, appears in a New York courtroom on Tuesday, December 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Curtis means via pool)
Surveillance camera footage of Sunday's attack shows the suspect approaching the woman, who was seated, motionless and possibly asleep, while aboard a stopped F train at the Coney Island-Stilwell Avenue subway station, then setting her on fire. was seen being released.
It was also noted that the address Zapeta provided to police matched the address of a substance abuse support center in New York City.
The New York Post reported that a man who lived at the shelter where Zapeta was said to have lived said that Zapeta smoked K2, a synthetic marijuana compound containing various chemicals and narcotics, “every day.” said.
The man also claimed that Zapeta frequently smoked, drank and would then “lose it.”
Suspect who burned woman to death on New York subway is illegal immigrant deported
Sebastian Zapeta, accused of setting a woman on fire on a New York City subway train, appears in a New York courtroom on Tuesday, December 24, 2024. (AP Photo/Curtis means via pool)
Zapeta is a deported immigrant from Guatemala who was arrested by Border Patrol in June 2018 and subsequently deported by the Trump administration. I entered the country illegally in Sonoita, Arizona. Marie Ferguson, a spokeswoman for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, previously told Fox News, adding that Zapeta later entered the country illegally.
Guardian Angels founder and local activist Curtis Sliwa told FOX News Digital that this latest act of violence on New York-based subways is due to the “Daniel Penny effect.”
Witnesses said Sliwa described a chaotic scene, saying no one helped the woman and that people were filming the whole ordeal but not cooperating with law enforcement. Ta.
NYPD arrests immigrant who set woman on fire on subway and watched her burn to death
Daniel Penny appears in Manhattan Supreme Court on Friday, November 22, 2024. Penny, a Marine Corps veteran, was charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the 2023 death of Jordan Neely on the New York City subway. (Rashid Umar Abbasi, Fox News Digital)
“And I think that's because of the chilling effect that the Daniel Penny incident had on this city as a whole. This wasn't a racially divisive incident…but I felt like… , people just don't want to get involved,'' Sliwa said.
“They don't want to be invaded, as I call it, and that means, God forbid, dragged into court, prosecuted, and then have their lives turned upside down.”
Marine Corps veteran Daniel Penny has been found not guilty of manslaughter in the strangulation death of Jordan Neely on the subway.
Penny was arrested in May 2023, questioned and released after a fatal encounter with Neely, who was grabbed by a 26-year-old architecture student on a Manhattan F train and was drugged and threatened to kill someone. It was about two weeks after that. Headlock from behind.
Neely also had an active arrest warrant and a lengthy criminal history at the time of his death. He had schizophrenia and substance abuse problems.
Mr Sliwa said this was similar to Mr Neely's case, with sources saying that Mr Zapeta smoked up to $30 worth of K2 a day and also drank large amounts of cheap vodka, which led to “the mayhem”. “recipe”.
“There was no one involved, there was no police on that train. When the police responded. They didn't respond quickly. And I think we're going to see more and more citizens just retreating.” explained Sliwa.
Former New York City police officer and FOX News contributor Paul Mauro also weighed in on the incident, saying officials are searching for fire extinguishers and that police are responding as quickly as possible under the circumstances. I explained that I heard that.
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“Look, no matter what anyone says, it's never possible to completely cover a subway. And given the size of the New York City subway system, transit cops do a great job,” Mauro said. .
New York Governor Kathy Hochul She took to social media on Sunday touting how much safer New York City's subway system has become thanks to her efforts, claiming crime on Big Apple trains has decreased since deploying the National Guard in March. criticized in the media.
A woman was burned alive on the subway the same day. Fox News Digital contacted Hochul's office but did not receive a response.
Alexis McAdams of Fox News, Michael Ruiz and Lorraine Taylor of Fox News Digital contributed to this report.
Stepheny Price is a writer for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. Story tips and ideas can be sent to stepheny.price@fox.com.
