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A migrant from Guatemala has been arrested for allegedly setting fire to a sleeping subway passenger in Brooklyn—and watching her burn to death.
Knewz.com has learned that the incident occurred on an idling F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station on the morning of December 22.
New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch explained the details of the crime at a press conference, saying that the suspect used what is believed to be a lighter to set fire to the victim's clothes.
According to reports, police officers patrolling the area noticed the smoke and followed it, which led them to the immolated victim.
While the officers were successful in putting out the fire, the victim succumbed to the burns and died on the spot.
"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," Commissioner Tisch said in her statement to the press.
It has been reported that footage of the crime showed the suspect "calmly" watching as the victim – who is yet to be identified – was gradually engulfed in flames.
Another video clip of the incident, per reports, showed responding officers asking a gathered crowd about details regarding the brutal crime.
Notably, the suspect could be seen sitting at a nearby bench with his hood up amidst the turmoil that broke out following the incident.
At one point, one of the officers could be seen pulling the suspect's hood up and instructing him to move away from the scene of the crime.
"Unbeknownst to the officers who responded, the suspect had stayed on the scene and was seated on a bench on the platform just outside the train car," NYPD Commissioner Tisch mentioned during the press conference.
"The body-worn cameras on the responding officers produced a very clear, detailed look at the killer," she added.
According to the Commissioner and the police department's Chief of Transit Joseph Gulotta, three high schoolers saw the footage and called the NYPD to inform them that they had seen the man at the Jay and York Street station on the F line.
"When transit officers responded they found the suspect already riding another train — and wearing the same gray hoodie, wool hat and paint-splattered pants he had on when he allegedly torched the woman," reports have mentioned.
The responding officers stopped the train the suspect was on at the Herald Square station, and nabbed him after a thorough car-to-car search.
According to reports, a lighter was found in the suspect's possession at the time of his arrest.
Commissioner Tisch thanked the high schoolers who called in the tip in a statement, saying, "I want to thank the young people who called 911 to help... They saw something, and they said something, and they did something."
It has been reported that the 33-year-old suspect is a migrant who came to the United States from Guatemala in 2018 and was detained by border patrol agents in Arizona in June of that year.
It has also been revealed that his criminal record in New York City was mostly clean, other than a transit summons he received in May 2023.