Five days after a woman believed to be homeless was burned by a passenger on a New York City subway train, city officials still have not been able to confirm her identity.
Investigators may have to rely on dental records or DNA analysis to make an identification of the victim.
“It just adds a new level to a tragedy,” David Giffen, executive director of the Coalition for the Homeless, told the New York Times. “At this point we still don’t even know who she was and she cannot be mourned.”
Giffen said the incident underscored a broader lack of interaction or empathy for the city’s homeless population. “We must not forget our humanity as a city,” he told the newspaper. “The fact that no one knows who this woman is is the saddest story I can imagine during the holidays.”
The shocking early morning attack on a Brooklyn F train last Sunday shocked the city. Questions have been asked about why it appears no one stepped in to help, including a police officer on the scene who appeared unable to help the burning victim.
However, police have defended their actions. Joseph Gulotta, the head of the police department’s transit division, praised the officer who he said stayed on the scene and “made sure he kept the crime scene the way it should be, and made sure he kept an eye on what was happening.” was going on.” .
“I think he did his job perfectly,” Gulotta added. “When his fellow officers went to get MTA employees, got fire extinguishers and were eventually able to extinguish the individual.”
A small vigil was held for the woman on Thursday at the Stillwell Avenue station in Coney Island, Brooklyn, where the attack occurred. Civil rights leader Rev. Kevin McCall said the woman “didn’t have to die” and called on New Yorkers to “do something” when they see injustice.
A Guatemalan, Sebastián Zapeta, 33, was quickly arrested on charges of murder and arson in connection with the woman’s death. He has been charged with murder and arson and is due to appear in court again on Friday.
Authorities allege that Zapeta, who federal immigration officials say is a Guatemalan citizen who entered the U.S. illegally after being deported in 2018, was seen in a video approaching the woman on a stationary train and stripping her clothes set fire.
New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch has described the case as “one of the most depraved crimes that one person could possibly commit against another human being.”
Zapeta was identified by three high school students after recognizing the person in police photos. He was arrested by police at a subway stop in midtown Manhattan, reportedly with a lighter like the one used in the attack in his pocket.
Prosecutors allege Zapeta set the woman’s clothes on fire and fanned the flames with a shirt. Zapeta then sat on a bench on the platform and watched as she burned, prosecutors allege.
But the suspect told authorities he didn’t know what happened and noted he was using alcohol and other substances. The assailant and the victim, who died at the scene, are believed not to have known each other and had no interaction before or during the incident, investigators said.
An address for Zapeta released by police after his arrest matches a shelter in Brooklyn that provides housing and substance abuse support.
