Guatemalan migrant arrested for setting sleeping NYC subway passenger on fire and watching her burn

A Guatemalan migrant was arrested for allegedly setting a sleeping subway rider on fire in Brooklyn on Sunday morning, watching as the victim burned to death in what the police commissioner described as “one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit.”

The brutal killing occurred around 7:30 a.m. aboard an idling F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station, shocking commuters, transit workers, and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch, who stated that the crime “took the life of an innocent New Yorker.”

“As the train pulled into the station, the suspect calmly walked up to the victim, who was in a seated position at the end of a subway car … and used what we believe to be a lighter to ignite the victim’s clothing, which became fully engulfed in a matter of seconds,” Tisch said during a press conference.

Patrolling officers noticed smoke and traced it to the woman, whose clothing was ablaze, the commissioner said.  

Although officers extinguished the flames, the victim was pronounced dead at the scene.

Authorities identified the suspect as a 33-year-old Guatemalan national who arrived in the U.S. in 2018. He was detained by border patrol agents in Arizona that June, but his current legal status was unclear as of Sunday night.

The man had received a transit summons in May 2023 but otherwise had no significant criminal record in New York City, sources revealed. At the time of the incident, he was residing in a shelter on Randall’s Island.

Disturbing footage obtained by *The Post* showed the suspect calmly watching as the flames consumed the woman, who stood in the doorway of the open subway car.

A transit officer passed by, appearing to radio in a report, before continuing down the platform.

After the officer left, the suspect appeared to get up as if preparing to leave, though the clip ended before showing what happened next.

In another video, officers could be heard shouting to bystanders, “Did anybody see anything? Did anybody see anything?” as smoke billowed from the subway car.

The suspect sat on a nearby bench, pulling up his hood at one point, just as officers gathered nearby. 

“Do me a favor? Walk down there,” an officer said, pointing down the platform with his radio. “I need this space cleared up.”

The man stood and walked away from the area.

“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.