Prosecutors have formally charged a man with causing the death of a woman who was set on fire on a New York subway train.
Sebastian Zabieta was charged on Friday with murder and arson, although he did not appear during the brief court hearing.
Mr Zabieta, 33, is accused of setting the woman, who may have been sleeping on the train, on fire, and setting a shirt on fire. The victim has not been identified.
The suspect has been held without bail since his arrest shortly after the incident.
The BBC has contacted Zabeta's lawyer for comment.
Police say the woman was sitting on a stopped train at the Coney Island-Stilwell Avenue station in Brooklyn on Sunday morning when a man approached her and used a lighter to ignite her clothes.
There was no interaction between the couple before the attack, and police believe they did not know each other.
Officers extinguished the flames, but the woman died at the scene.
The man got off the train as police officers patrolling the station rushed to the fire, but he did not run away immediately and his face was captured on police cameras.
At a press conference earlier this week, New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch described the incident as “one of the most horrific crimes that one person can commit against another human being.”
“Unbeknownst to the responding officers, the suspect remained at the scene and was sitting on a bench on the platform outside the train car,” Ms Tisch said.
The suspect then left the scene, and authorities say three high school students later identified him in photos distributed by police.
Immigration authorities said Zapeta, originally from Guatemala, was deported from the United States in 2018 and later returned to the country illegally.
At a preliminary hearing Tuesday, prosecutor Ari Rotenberg said Zabetta told investigators he had been drinking and did not remember the incident, but identified himself in photos and surveillance video showing the fire burning.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams urged federal authorities to charge Mr. Zapeta with arson, in addition to the state charges he currently faces. “Setting another human being on fire and watching him burn alive reflects a level of evil that cannot be tolerated,” the mayor said in a statement.
A vigil was held Thursday evening for the victim, who was burned so badly that police had difficulty identifying her.
False and unconfirmed information about her, including a fake image generated by artificial intelligence, has been circulating online. Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez told reporters on Friday that authorities were still working to identify the woman using fingerprints and DNA.
Prosecutors said Zabieta is scheduled to appear in court on January 7.
