Critics have slammed the so-called “Daniel Penny effect” after several bystanders and even police officers appeared to stand by as an innocent woman was burned to death. die in a subway car. New York City.
A heinous crime is said to have been committed he is an illegal immigrant who pointed at the woman while she was sleeping. Sources tell Fox News that the woman has not been identified for days after the scare because she was so badly burned.
Investigators also believe he was homeless and are working to trace possible family members.
SANCTUARY CITY NEW YORK STRUGGLES TO MAKE DRAMATIC CHANGE AFTER LAW TRIAL BURNED WOMAN ALIVE.
Sources previously identified the person of interest at Fox News Digital as Sebastian Zapeta, 33, who is being charged. first and second degree murderas well as first-degree burns.
Sebastian Zapeta, accused of setting a woman on fire on a New York City subway, appears in court, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Curtis Says Pool)
Video of Sunday's attack showed the suspect approaching the woman, who was sitting motionless and possibly sleeping, as she boarded the F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue train station and burn him.
It is also noted that the address Zapeta gave is the same as that of a drug abuse support center in NYC.
A man who lived in the same residence Zapeta reportedly lived there, Zapeta is said to smoke K2, synthetic marijuana with many chemicals and drugs “every day, ” according to a report by The New York Post.
The man also said that Zapeta used to smoke, drink, and then “lose it”.
Suspect accused of burning woman to death on NYC subway IS DEPORTED AN ILLEGAL IMMIGRANT.
Sebastian Zapeta, accused of setting a woman on fire on a New York City subway, appears in court, Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Curtis Says Pool)
Zapeta is a former deported immigrant from Guatemala who was apprehended by the Border Patrol and later deported by the Trump administration in June 2018 after illegally crossed into Sonoita, Arizona, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokeswoman Marie Ferguson previously told Fox News, adding that Zapeta later re-entered the US illegally.
Guardian Angels founder and local activist Curtis Sliwa told Fox News Digital that this latest act of violence on the New York subway is due to the “Daniel Penny effect.”
Sliwa explained the chaos, according to witnesses, saying that no one helped the woman, but people were filming the whole thing, but did not cooperate with the law enforcement.
NYPD ARRESTS MAN FOR BURNING WOMAN ON TRAIN TRAIN, SAYS SHE BURNS TO DEATH.
Daniel Penny arrives in Manhattan Supreme Court, Friday, Nov. 22, 2024. Penny, a Navy veteran, was charged with second-degree murder and criminal homicide in the 2023 death of Jordan Neely on the subway in New York City. (Rashid Umar Abbasi for Fox News Digital)
“And I think it's because of the horrible effect that Daniel Penny's situation had on this whole community. It wasn't about racism… but what I realized is that people don't want to put hand,” Sliwa said.
“They don't want to be busted, as I call it, which means, God forbid, be dragged to court, prosecuted, and then your life changes.”
Daniel Penny, a Navy veteran, was found not guilty of criminal homicide in the submarine killing of Jordan Neely.
Penny was arrested in May 2023, about two weeks after being questioned and released after meeting Neely, who was addicted to drugs and threatened to kill people on a train. of Manhattan F when the 26-year-old architecture student grabbed him. the head is in the back.
Neely also had an outstanding warrant and a lengthy criminal history at the time of his death. He had schizophrenia and substance abuse problems.
Sliwa says this is similar to Neely's case and that sources say Zapeta was smoking up to $30 worth of K2 a day, as well as drinking very cheap vodka, which he says is “a recipe for chaos.”
“No one intervened, there was no police on that train. When the police responded. They did not act quickly. And I think that with the increase, you will see the citizens going back,” Sliwa explained .
Retired NYPD inspector and Fox News contributor Paul Mauro also weighed in on the incident and explained that a source told him the officer was looking for a fire extinguisher and police responded as quickly as they could under those conditions.
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“Look, you can never completely cover the subway, no matter what anyone says. And with most of the New York City subway system, the transit police are do a good job,” said Mauro.
New York Governor Kathy Hochul was slammed on social media on Sunday after commenting on how much safer the New York City subway is thanks to his efforts, saying that crime has has slowed down on Apple's big trains since he hired the National Guard in March.
The woman was burned alive in the subway that same day. Fox News Digital reached out to Hochul's office but did not receive a response.
Fox News' Alexis McAdams, Fox News Digital's Michael Ruiz, and Lorraine Taylor contributed to this report.
Stepheny Price is a reporter for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. Story tips and ideas can be sent to stepheny.price@fox.com