NYPD arrests man suspected of lighting homeless woman on fire in Brooklyn subway car, killing her

John Annese, Roni Jacobson, Rebecca White and Evan Simko-Bednarski, New York Daily News on Dec 23, 2024

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NEW YORK — Police arrested a man who allegedly lit a sleeping homeless woman on fire in a Brooklyn subway car Sunday morning, then watched calmly as she burned to death, NYPD officials said.

Chilling video obtained by the Daily News shows the woman standing near the door of a stopped subway car at the Coney-Island-Stillwell Ave. station, her clothes ablaze, while a man sits on a bench on the platform a few feet away and casually watches.

“Officers who were on patrol on an upper level of that station smelled and saw smoke and went to investigate. What they saw was a person standing inside the train car fully engulfed in flames,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said of the macabre crime. “With the help of an MTA employee and a fire extinguisher, the flames were put out. Unfortunately, it was too late, and the victim was pronounced [dead] on the scene.

“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,” Tisch added.

Police body cameras captured crystal clear images of the man, which were then disseminated to the public. Three teenagers recognized the man from the photos and called 911, enabling NYPD and transit officers to work together to arrest him, Tisch said.

The horrifying scene was captured on disturbing video obtained by The News. “This is a person right here! Oh s–t!” a voice can be heard on the cellphone video as the woman is seen engulfed in flames while what looks like a police officer walks by and talks into a radio.

The woman’s identity was not immediately released, but sources told The News she appeared to be homeless and was sleeping in a stationary F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Ave. subway stop at about 7:30 a.m. when the suspect set her on fire.

“A person of interest is in custody. So now we’re calling upon the rest of the justice system to step up and do their jobs,” Chief of Transit Joseph Gulotta said at the Sunday press conference. “There must be strong, swift consequences on this person, and I use that term lightly, who committed this brutal, brutal homicide. There is no room in civilized society for people like him to be walking around.”

The victim and suspect did not appear to know each other and had no prior interaction before the suspect lit the woman on fire, Gulotta said.

The suspect’s identity was not immediately released, but Gulotta noted the man had immigrated to the U.S. from Guatemala in 2018.

“It’s foul. It’s wrong. Nobody deserves to get burned up, no matter if she’s homeless,” said Kenny Cruz, who was sitting outside a convenience store outside the Coney Island/Stilwell Avenue subway station in a wheelchair on Sunday. “My heart goes out to that lady.”