Sebastian Zapeta, the Guatemalan man accused of lighting a sleeping subway rider on fireplace and watching her burn to demise on a Brooklyn subway automobile, pleaded not responsible to homicide and arson expenses Tuesday.
The 33-year-old was indicted on one depend of first-degree homicide, three counts of second-degree homicide, and arson.
Zapeta listened by means of an interpreter and didn’t converse throughout the 4-minute listening to. His lawyer, on the finish, stated his consumer wanted medical consideration, however further particulars weren’t instantly accessible.
Zapeta entered the U.S. illegally in 2018, in line with authorities. He was deported, and returned to the nation at an unknown time.
NYPD ARRESTS MIGRANT WHO ALLEGEDLY SET WOMAN ON FIRE ON SUBWAY TRAIN, WATCHED HER BURN TO DEATH
Sebastian Zapeta is arraigned in Brooklyn, New York on Tuesday, January 7, 2025. Zapeta is going through homicide and arson expenses for allegedly setting Debrina Kawam on fireplace as she slept on a New York Metropolis subway practice. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox Information Digital)
He made his option to New York and on Dec. 22 allegedly lit the girl on fireplace as she slept on a subway bench.
Surveillance photographs present the person who allegedly set a lady on fireplace on a Brooklyn subway whereas she was asleep on Dec. 22, 2024. (NYPD)
The sufferer has been recognized as Debrina Kawam, a 57-year-old from Toms River, New Jersey. She was so badly burned it took greater than every week to establish her stays.
Sebastian Zapeta is arraigned in Brooklyn, New York on Tuesday, January 7, 2025. Zapeta is going through homicide and arson expenses for allegedly setting Debrina Kawam on fireplace as she slept on a New York Metropolis subway practice. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox Information Digital)
Mayor Eric Adams, a former NYPD captain, stated surveillance video of the assault was so twisted he could not end watching it.
Kawam was sitting by herself, believed to be asleep, on a stopped F practice on the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station in Brooklyn.
WOMAN BURNED TO DEATH IN HORRIFIC SUBWAY ATTACK IDENTIFIED
Sebastian Zapeta is arraigned in Brooklyn, New York on Tuesday, January 7, 2025. Zapeta is going through homicide and arson expenses for allegedly setting Debrina Kawam on fireplace as she slept on a New York Metropolis subway practice. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox Information Digital)
“Because the practice pulled into the station, the suspect calmly walked as much as the sufferer,” New York Metropolis Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch advised reporters at a information briefing. “The suspect used what we consider to be a lighter to ignite the sufferer’s clothes, which grew to become absolutely engulfed in a matter of seconds.”
Sebastian Zapeta, accused of setting a lady on fireplace inside a New York Metropolis subway practice, seems in court docket, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photograph/Curtis Means through Pool)
Then the person walked off the automobile to a close-by ready bench, sat down, and watched as assist arrived. Responding officers have been already within the station, and a transit employee grabbed a fireplace extinguisher. The suspect even appeared on bodycam video, Tisch stated.
The suspect was arrested after three youngsters using one other subway practice acknowledged him from a needed poster and known as 911. He was taken into custody on the subsequent cease.
Cops patrol the F practice platform on the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue Station, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024, in New York. (AP)
Zapeta faces a most sentence of life with out the potential for parole if convicted.
The NYPD launched its end-of-the-year crime statistics for 2024 Monday, touting an total lower in crime and a rise in arrests. Nevertheless, homicides on the subway system doubled in comparison with 2023.
Zapeta is due again in court docket on March 12.
Fox Information’ Greg Wehner and Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.
Source link