In an unprecedented public attack that quickly spread across social media, a woman was set on fire and burned to death on a subway train in… Brooklyn, New Yorkon Sunday. The suspect arrested in connection with her gruesome death is an immigrant previously deported from Guatemala, as calls mount to end New York City's sanctuary policies enacted under former Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Sources previously identified Fox News Digital's person of interest as Sebastín Zabetta, 33, who has been charged with first- and second-degree murder, as well as first-degree arson.
Zabeta was arrested by the Border Patrol and deported by the Trump administration in June 2018 after… They illegally crossed into Sonoita, Arizona, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Mary Ferguson told Fox News that Zabita later returned to the United States illegally.
NYPD officers escort a suspect wanted for murder on the F train in Coney Island from an area of lower Manhattan on Sunday, December 22, 2024. (Courtesy: J.N. Miller/New York Post)
“It is past time to end New York’s sanctuary city policies.” The New York Post editorial board wrote, Adding that Zabetta “entered again The country, and at some point after that, I headed to New York, Local policies ensure that taxpayer-funded shelter, food, and other assistance are provided to immigrants And prevent cops from working with Immigration and Customs Enforcement to deport even those who commit new crimes.
“In other words, he went where he would be better able to do anything and everything he wanted, without much respect for the law or fear of consequences,” the board continued.
Surveillance video of Sunday's attack showed the suspect approaching the woman, who was sitting motionless and possibly asleep, while she was on a stationary F train at the Coney Island-Stilwell Avenue subway station and then setting her on fire.
Police investigate the Coney Island-Stilwell Avenue station in Brooklyn after a woman was set on fire on a subway car and died in New York, United States on December 22, 2024. Police believe the woman was sleeping on the train when she was struck by a man. I approached it and set it on fire. She was pronounced dead at the scene. (Photo by Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“When the train arrived at the station, the suspect calmly walked toward the victim,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said during a press conference on Sunday evening, adding that the victim was in a sitting position. He added: “The suspect used what we believe was a lighter to ignite the victim's clothes, which were completely swallowed within seconds.”
The suspect then remained at the scene and sat on a bench outside the train car while officers and a transport worker extinguished the flames. The woman was pronounced dead at the scene.
After three high school-age New Yorkers called 911, the suspect was arrested just hours after the attack while riding on the same subway line. He was found with a lighter in his pocket, according to Tisch.
Police investigate the scene of a woman's death after a man set her on fire on an MTA subway train while she slept at the Coney Island-Stilwell Avenue subway station in the Coney Island section of Brooklyn, New York, United States on Sunday, December 22, 2024. (Photo by Kyle Mazza/Anadolu via Getty Images)
“People are tired of the revolving door where people are constantly committing violent crimes, and they are back on our streets… It is not a safe haven for those who commit criminal acts,” the New York City mayor said. Eric Adams told Fox News Last week in a discussion about the politics of the Holy City. “Violent individuals should not remain in our country.”
Adams is the first big-city mayor to sit with incoming border czar Tom Homan against the wishes of his city leaders, saying he would work with the Trump administration to deport criminal immigrants from his city.
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This month, before Sunday's attack, Adams said there had been a 22-week decline in the number of migrants arriving in New York City, allowing many migrant shelters used for housing to close, even though the city had seen more than 225,000 migrants arrive. Since 2022, an increase that has coincided with a sharp rise on the southern border.
Fox News' Greg Weiner contributed to this report.
