NYC subway horror accused told mates he was going for run; then burnt sleeping woman on train – Times of India

Accused Sebastian Zapeta-Calil used to act crazy when intoxicated but never harmed anyone, his shelter home pals said.

Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, the 33-year-old madman who set a sleeping woman on fire inside a train at NYC subway as others looked on, told his mates that he was going for his morning run. And the next thing his pals heard was that he was arrested for setting a woman on fire.
Raymond Robinson, who slept next to the accused murderer, at a shelter house in East New York, said Zapeta started his Sunday with a breakfast of French toast, sausage and grits and went out, the New York Post reported.
The illegal Guatemalan migrant was a heavy drinker who chain-smoked K2, his pals at the shelter house said. They confirmed that he used to act weird when he used to be high but he never harmed anybody being intoxicated.
“He smoked K2, drank and bugged out,” Robinson said. “He would bug out and talk to himself when he was high, but he never harmed nobody or himself. When he wasn’t high he’d talk like we’re talking regular.”

Act on frenzy, no motive found, Zapeta says he has no memory

Sebastian Zapeta told the police that he had no memory of setting the woman on fire. However, surveillance footage showed that Zapeta walked toward the woman on an F train at the Coney Island station who was sitting motionless wrapped in her blanket — probably sleeping and ignited her blanket and clothing. The woman did not react to it until the fire completely engulfed her and she was completely burned.
Zapeta walked out of the station and saw the woman burning. An unverified video showed Zapeta before the alleged murder where he was giving a drunken ranting.
Zapeta-Calil entered the US illegally sometime in the past six years after he was once deported in 2018. He has been charged with first- and second-degree murder and first-degree arson.
“The depravity of this horrific crime is beyond comprehension, and my office is committed to bringing the perpetrator to justice. This gruesome and senseless act of violence against a vulnerable woman will be met with the most serious consequences,” Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement.