Illegal arrested for setting sleeping NYC subway rider on fire, watching her burn to death

NY Post:
[An illegal alien from Guatemala] has been arrested on allegations he lit a sleeping woman on fire inside a Coney Island F train on Sunday morning.

Police sources say a civilian identified the suspected killer as he rode on a train at 34th Street in Manhattan.

The witness waved down the cops, who later picked the suspect up and detained him.

He has not been charged with a crime yet, sources added.

The suspect entered the country and was detained by border patrol agents in Arizona in June 2018 — and so far authorities have not found a past criminal record for him in New York City, law enforcement sources said.

Authorities were still working to confirm whether he is in the country legally, the sources said. He is suspected of lighting the woman on fire at about 7:30 a.m. on Sunday, then watching her burn to death in a shocking killing just three days before Christmas.

Cops, who clearly had no idea what had occurred, briefly talked to him, but told him to clear the area in the immediate aftermath of the attack, a video from the scene showed.

Investigators believe the woman was sleeping when the man — who was sitting across from the victim at the time — got up, walked over and tossed a match on her, sources said.

The woman was found by police engulfed in flames on the F train at Coney Island-Stillwell Ave station.

Cops extinguished the fire and EMS declared her dead on the scene.

Liquor bottles were laying around the victim, though it wasn’t clear if they played any part in the blaze.

On Sunday morning, cops, firefighters and medical examiner personnel clad in white Tyvek suits combed the tracks for evidence after they cordoned off the area.

The man suspected of lighting a woman on fire on a New York City subway has been identified as Sebastian Zapeta.