Image Credit: NYPD / Screenshot | X
An illegal alien who was arrested for setting a woman on fire as she slept in a New York City subway car was previously deported by President Trump’s Border Patrol but snuck back into the country undetected and stayed in a Big Apple ‘migrant hotel,’ according to reports.
Following his apprehension on Sunday, authorities identified the suspect as 33-year-old Sebastian Zapeta, a Guatemalan national who entered the U.S. during the Trump administration under circumstances that were undisclosed at the time.
It has since come to light that Zapeta was caught after illegally crossing the southern border in June of 2018 and quickly deported six days later, Department of Homeland Security sources informed Fox News correspondent Bill Melugin.
Zapeta then reentered the U.S. at an unknown location and date, making him one of millions of ‘gotaways’ lurking across the country.
NEW: Per DHS sources, the suspect accused of burning a woman to death on a NYC subway is a Guatemalan illegal alien who was previously deported by the Trump administration and re-entered the U.S. illegally as a gotaway at an unknown time & location. I’m told he was arrested by… pic.twitter.com/bWkmwdwhOz— Bill Melugin (@BillMelugin_) December 23, 2024
While it is unclear how long Zapeta has been back in the U.S., the New York Post learned he stayed in at least two ‘migrant shelters’ in NYC, including a Days Inn hotel that was being used to house illegal aliens last year.
“When he was issued a transit ticket in 2023, he gave an address of a shelter on Randall’s Island,” the Post reported on Monday.
The shocking attack unfolded at around 7:30 a.m. on Sunday morning at Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station in Brooklyn.
“As the train pulled into the station, the suspect calmly walked up to the victim, who was in a seated position at the end of a subway car… and used what we believe to be a lighter to ignite the victim’s clothing, which became fully engulfed in a matter of seconds,” NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch explained during a press conference on Sunday afternoon.
Tisch called the killing “one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit.”
Footage captured by multiple witnesses has been circulating on social media.
WARNING: EXTREMELY GRAPHIC CONTENT
🚨#BREAKING: NY Law enforcement officials report that Sebastian Zapeta, a 25-year-old Hispanic male from Guatemala, who is accused of setting a sleeping female subway rider on fire and watching her burn to death, has been arrested and taken into custody. pic.twitter.com/M5o2srNXi3— R A W S A L E R T S (@rawsalerts) December 22, 2024
A person wearing clothing that appears to match that of the suspect can be seen sitting on the platform, watching the victim as she fights for her life.
Another video appears to show the suspect fanning the flames with a towel or article of clothing.
GRAPHIC – Guatemalan ‘migrant’ sets an American on fire on a NYC subway train.
Migrant then sits on the bench & watches her burn, getting up only to fan the flames.
A cop walked by & didn’t do anything
Remember: They wanted to jail Daniel Penny while giving the monster who did… pic.twitter.com/bSggXO0Css— Christian Ziegler 🇺🇸 (@ChrisMZiegler) December 23, 2024
Zapeta was arrested hours later aboard a train in Manhattan following a tip from youngsters who spotted him at another NYC subway station.
The arrest of Sebastian Zapeta, the “person of interest” in the immolation of a woman at the Coney Island-Stillwell Ave. subway station this morning. pic.twitter.com/2KtlyYxeje— Crime In NYC (@CrimeInNYC) December 23, 2024
InfoWars will continue to monitor this investigation as it develops.
