The suspect of the murder of woman in the subway does not guilty

The suspect of the murder of woman in the subway does not guilty

The man who is accused of having killed a woman in a subway car in New York City by lighting last month, did not guilty on Tuesday for murder and was held on the bail.

The background of the crime

Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, a 33-year-old undocumented migrant from Guatemala, was previously charged with the first and second degree murder and arson. CNN asked the suspect's lawyer to comment.

The incident

The police report that Zapeta-Calil had calmly approached 57-year-old Debrina Kawam on the morning of December 22, while she was asleep in an F-train that approached the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue underground station in Brooklyn. With a lighter he lit her clothes and the ceiling into which she was wrapped.

episode of the attack

Kawam, who, according to the authorities, lived after a stay in the homeless shelter in New Jersey, died of the consequences of thermal injuries and smoke poisoning, as can be seen from a complaint submitted to the Brooklyn Criminal.

security concerns in the city

This brutal assault has triggered concern in New York City in terms of security in subways and in public space, especially after several top-class violent incidents in recent years.

court proceedings and evidence

At a first court appointment in December, Zapeta-Calil said that he had known nothing of the incident and referred to his alcohol consumption. According to the deputy district prosecutor Ari Rottenberg, Zapeta-Calil identified himself in photos that were connected with the attack.

monitoring videos and arrest

surveillance videos of the incident that seemed to show how Zapeta-Calil sat on a bench compared to the subway car and watched, as Kawam burned, were crucial for the identification of the suspect. Hours after the attack, the authorities published pictures from surveillance cameras and from police body cameras, whereupon three students recognized the suspect and reported this to the police. The officials found Zapeta-Calil about eight hours later in a subway train in Midtown Manhattan, where he had a lighter in his pocket, according to the Chief of Transit of the New York police, Joseph Gulotta.

legal status and criminal record

According to the federal authorities for immigration, Zapeta-Calil was deported in 2018 and then illegally returned to the USA. In a festival report, his last address was listed as a homeless shelter in Brooklyn for men who fight with drug abuse.

serious charges

"These are significant charges," said Brooklyn District Prosecutor Eric Gonzalez after Zapeta-Calil was charged. "Murder of the first degree can result in the possibility of a lifelong prison term without probation. It is the most serious paragraph in the legal system of the state of New York, and my office is very secure in the case of the evidence and will do everything possible to hold Zapeta for his hideous acts."

This story continues to develop and is updated.

To this report, CNN journalists Mark Morales, Hanna Park, Gloria Pazmino, Sabrina Shulman and Eric Levenson contributed.