A New York City woman died after she was set on fire as she rode the Subway in Brooklyn, New York. A man who is suspected of burning her to death has been arrested after police launched a manhunt. Jessica Tisch, the city’s Police Commissioner called the act that took place on December 22, 2024, one of the “most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit against another human being.”
The victim was reportedly asleep sitting on a stationary F train when a man approached her with a lighter. police are still confirming those details.
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The woman’s clothes caught fire in a matter of seconds, the BBC reported. Officers managed to put the flames out but the woman died at the scene. Police are still trying to determine a motive for this crime.
The woman, who has not been named, was sitting on the subway at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station at about 7:30 a.m., when the suspect approached her.
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The victim reportedly sat “motionless” when she was set alight. Detectives are trying to determine if she was asleep at the time of the attack or not. Prior to the attack, there was no interaction between the victim and the assailant. Police do not believe the two knew each other.
Officers on the upper level learned of the incident when they smelled and saw smoke. When they reached the train, they saw a person standing inside the train, “fully engulfed in flames.”
As officers rushed toward the fire, the alleged assailant got off the train. He didn’t go far. “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 said.
As a result, police were able to obtain clear, detailed images of the man through body cams. The NYPD later shared the images with Metropolitan Transpiration Authority patrons.
Later, three high school-aged teens called 911 to report that they had seen the man on another subway train. Officers boarded the train and located the man. They arrested him at Herald Square. He had a lighter in his pocket. The man has not been publicly identified but authorities do know that the man immigrated to the United States from Guatemala in 2018.
The police have expressed their gratitude to the young people for helping apprehend the suspect. “I want to thank the young people who called 911 to help,” Tisch added. “They saw something, they said something and they did something.”
Police have not yet announced what charges they’re filing.
