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When an innocent woman was burned to death on a subway car, several bystanders and even police officers appeared to stand by and did nothing to help, with critics denouncing the so-called “Daniel Penney effect.” In New York City.
allegedly committed heinous crimes by illegal immigrants who attacked the woman while she slept. Sources told Fox News that the woman has not been identified days after the horrific incident because she suffered severe burns.
Investigators also believe she is homeless and are working to locate any possible family members.
Sources previously identified the person of interest to Fox News Digital as Sebastian Zapeta, 33, who has been charged with first and second degree murderand first-degree arson.
Sebastian Zapeta, accused of setting fire to a woman on a New York City subway train, appeared in court on Tuesday, December 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Curtis Means via Pool)
Surveillance video of Sunday’s attack shows the suspect approaching the motionless, possibly sleeping woman on a stationary F train at the Coney Island-Stilwell Avenue subway station and then setting her on fire.
It’s also worth noting that the address Zapeta provided to police matched that of a substance abuse support center in New York City.
A man living at the same shelter in Zapeta reportedly smoked K2, a type of synthetic marijuana that can contain many different chemicals and drugs, “every day,” the New York Post reported.
The man also claimed that Zapetta regularly smoked, drank and then “quit.”
Sebastian Zapeta, accused of setting fire to a woman on a New York City subway train, appeared in court on Tuesday, December 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Curtis Means via Pool)
Zapeta, a previously deported Guatemalan immigrant, was apprehended by Border Patrol and subsequently deported by the Trump administration in June 2018. Illegal crossing into Sonoita, Arizona, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson Mary Ferguson previously told Fox News, adding that Zapeta later reentered the U.S. illegally.
Guardian Angel founder and local activist Curtis Sliwa told Fox News Digital that this latest act of violence on the New York subway was due to the “Daniel Penney effect.”
Sliwa described the chaotic scene and said no one was helping the woman, but people were filming the ordeal but were not cooperating with law enforcement, according to witnesses.
Daniel Penny arrives at Manhattan Supreme Court on Friday, November 22, 2024. Penny, a Marine Corps veteran, was charged with second-degree manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in the 2023 death of Jordan Neely on a New York subway train. (Rashid Omar Abbasi, Fox News Digital)
“I think it’s because of the chilling impact that the Daniel Penney incident had on the entire city. It wasn’t a racially divisive case … but I found that people just didn’t want to get involved,” Sliwa said.
“They don’t want to be infiltrated, which means, God forbid, as I say, dragged into court, prosecuted and have your life turned upside down.”
Daniel Penny, a Marine Corps veteran, was found not guilty of manslaughter in the subway choking death of Jordan Neely.
Penny was arrested in May 2023, nearly two weeks after he was questioned and released following a fatal encounter with Neely. Neely was overdosing on drugs and threatening to kill someone on the F train in Manhattan when the 26-year-old architecture student was in a headlock from behind.
Neely also had active arrest warrants and a lengthy criminal history at the time of his death. He suffers from schizophrenia and substance abuse issues.
Sliwa said it was a similar situation to Neely’s, with sources saying Zapeta smoked $30 worth of K2 a day and drank copious amounts of cheap vodka, which he called “a recipe for chaos.”
“No one was involved and there were no police officers on the train. When the police responded, they didn’t act quickly. I think more and more you’re going to see citizens retreating,” Sliwa explained.
Retired NYPD inspector and Fox News contributor Paul Mauro also weighed in on the incident, explaining that a source told him that an officer was looking for a fire extinguisher and that police were working as quickly as possible based on the situation. reaction.
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“Look, no matter what anyone says, you can never completely cover the subway. Given the size of the New York City subway system, transit police do a great job,” Mauro said.
New York State Governor Kathy Hochul On Sunday, she took to social media to tout how safer the New York City subway system has become thanks to her efforts, claiming that crime on the city’s subways has dropped since she deployed the National Guard in March.
The woman was burned alive on the subway that day. Fox News Digital reached out to Hochul’s office but did not receive a response.
Fox News’ Alexis McAdams, Fox News Digital’s Michael Ruiz and Lorraine Taylor contributed to this report.
Stepheny Price is a contributor for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. Story tips and ideas can be sent to [email protected]
