The illegal Guatemalan migrant accused of torching a sleeping woman on a Brooklyn subway train was hit with murder and arson charges Monday — as the feds identified him as Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, who snuck back into the US after being deported.
Police charged Zapeta-Calil, 33, with first- and second-degree murder, and arson after he was picked up Sunday in the gruesome slaying, law enforcement sources told The Post.
Sebastian Zapeta is walked out of the 60th Precinct by NYPD on route to court, on Monday. Gregory P. Mango
Authorities had been awaiting the results of an autopsy to determine what charges would be lodged — but the process is complicated by the condition of the victim’s body, which was badly scorched in the incident, sources said.
Subway surveillance images show the suspect.
Follow the latest on the migrant accused of burning a woman to death on the subway:
- Horrific video shows suspect watching woman burn to death in F train car after he allegedly set her on fire
- Guatemalan migrant arrested for setting sleeping NYC subway rider on fire, watching her burn to death: cops
- Video shows moment cops swarm train to arrest migrant accused of setting subway rider on fire
- Fiend accused of burning woman to death on NYC subway is illegal migrant from Guatemala who sneaked into US after he was deported
The Brooklyn DA’s office is now expected to also file charges.
According to Marie Ferguson, a spokesperson for US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the agency is expected to lodge a detainer on Zapeta-Calil while he is held in the Big Apple.
Surveillance footage of the suspect watching the woman burn to death on the train. Obtained by the Post
The Post confirmed the suspect is a migrant from Guatemala who is in the US illegally. DCPIFerguson said Zapeta-Calil was nabbed at the border in Arizona on June 1, 2018, and deported a week later — but re-entered the country illegally at some point.
Police busted the man accused of lighting a woman on fire on the F train in Brooklyn on Dec. 22, 2024. G.N.Miller/NYPost