Five days after a woman who appeared to be homeless was burned to death by a passenger on a New York City subway train, city officials are still unable to confirm her identity.
Investigators may have to rely on dental records or DNA analysis to determine the victim's identity.
“It just adds another level to the tragedy.” David Giffen, director of the Homeless Coalition, told The New York Times. “At this point, we don't even know who she is yet, and we can't memorialize her.”
Giffen said the incident highlighted a widespread lack of interaction and empathy for the city's homeless. “We cannot forget our humanity as a city,” he told the outlet. “The fact that no one knows who this woman is is the saddest story I can imagine during the holidays.”
Last Sunday's shocking early morning attack on the Brooklyn F train horrified the city, and no one went to help, including the police officers at the scene who appeared not to help the burning victims. The question has been raised as to why.
However, police defended their actions. Police Department Traffic Director Joseph Gulotta praised the officers who stayed at the scene and “kept the crime scene as it should be and kept an eye on what was going on.” .
“I think he did his job perfectly,” Gulotta added. “My fellow officers called in MTA personnel, obtained a fire extinguisher, and were ultimately able to extinguish the individual.”
small wake A memorial service was held Thursday for the woman at the Stilwell Avenue Station in Coney Island, Brooklyn, where the incident occurred. Civil rights leader Reverend Kevin McCall said the woman “didn't have to die” and called on New Yorkers who saw injustice to “do something.”
Guatemalan Sebastian Zapeta, 33, was quickly arrested on suspicion of murder and arson in connection with the woman's death. He has been charged with murder and arson and is scheduled to appear in court again on Friday.
Federal immigration authorities say Zapeta, a Guatemalan national who reentered the United States illegally after being deported in 2018, was seen on video approaching a woman on a stopped train and setting her clothes on fire. The authorities claim that there are.
New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch called the incident “one of the most despicable crimes one human being can commit against another human being.”
Zapeta was identified by three high school students after they recognized him from a police photo. He was arrested by police at a midtown Manhattan subway station and arrested on suspicion of having the same lighter used in the attack in his pocket.
Prosecutors allege Zapeta set the woman's clothes on fire and used her shirt to fan the flames. Prosecutors allege Zapeta then sat on the platform bench and watched her burn.
But the suspect told authorities he didn't know what happened and said he was under the influence of alcohol and other drugs. According to investigators, the assailant, who died at the scene, and the victim did not know each other and did not appear to have interacted with each other before or during the incident.
Zapeta's address, released by police after his arrest, matches a shelter in Brooklyn that provides housing and substance abuse support.
