NEW YORK– New York City police have taken into custody a person believed to have been caught a woman on fire early Sunday on the subway and then watched from a bench as she burst into flames and died.
Surveillance footage showed the man calmly approaching the woman, who was sitting motionless and possibly sleeping, while aboard a stationary F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station, and then setting her on fire.
Her clothing “became completely engulfed within seconds,” said New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, describing the case as “one of the most depraved crimes that anyone could ever commit against another human being.”
The man then sat on a bench outside the train car and watched as officers and a transit worker extinguished the flames. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
The man was arrested hours later while riding the same subway line.
The suspect and victim did not appear to know each other and had no contact before the incident, police said.
Police have taken the man into custody but have not yet released his identity. The woman’s name has not yet been released.
The man had not been charged in the death as of Monday afternoon, but U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesman Jeff Carter said he is a Guatemalan citizen who entered the U.S. illegally after being removed earlier in 2018.
It is unclear when and where he re-entered. U.S. federal immigration officials will issue a detainer for him once he is charged to transfer him to federal custody, Carter said. Federal immigration officials will typically file a detainer request to ask an agency to detain a person until he or she can be taken into immigration custody, rather than releasing the person back into public release.
Authorities had distributed images of the man via surveillance cameras and police body camera footage taken at the crime scene. A group of high school students tipped off police to the man’s presence on the train later on Sunday, and he was taken into custody.
He was wearing the same clothing and had a lighter in his pocket when he was arrested, police said.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez released a statement saying “we will do everything in our power to ensure accountability in this case.”
Police patrol the New York City subways and there is an extensive network of cameras in stations and throughout all subways.
But the sheer size of the metro system – 472 stations with multiple access points and millions of passengers per day – makes overseeing the public transport system a logistical nightmare.
During Sunday’s incident, officers were at the station but patrolling a different subway platform. They arrived on scene after seeing and smelling smoke from the fire.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul earlier this year ordered members of the National Guard to assist with random bag checks at certain stations.
Violent incidents the subway often puts people on edge, partly because many New Yorkers take the train several times a day and often have their own experiences with uncomfortable interactions in the system.
Overall, crime in the city transportation system has decreased this year compared to the same period in 2023. Facts Data from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority shows a 6% decline in what the agency calls major crimes between January and November of this year and 2023.
At the same time, the number of homicides in transit has risen, with nine homicides this year through November, compared to five in the same period last year.
High-profile incidents on the train, such as the case of Daniel Pennya military veteran who strangled an agitated subway passenger in New York and was acquitted of murder this month often draws national attention and makes passengers even more nervous.