Five days after a woman dependd to be homeless was burned to death by a passenger inside a New York City subway car, city officials have still not been able to validate her identity.
Investigators may have to depend on dental write downs or DNA analysis to originate an identification of the victim.
“It fair inserts another level to a tragedy,” David Giffen, honestor of the Coalition for the Homeless, telderly the New York Times. “At this point, we still don’t even comprehend who she was and she can’t be lamented.”
Giffen said the incident underscored a expansiveer deficiency of engageion, or compassion for, the city’s homeless. “We can’t forget our humanity as a city,” he telderly the outlet. “The fact that nobody comprehends who this woman is the sadnessfuldest story I can envision during the holidays.”
The shocking timely-morning strike on a Brooklyn F train last Sunday has horrified the city, with asks being asked about why it eunites no one stepped in to help, including a police officer at the scene who euniteed to fall short to aid the burning victim.
However, police have deffinished their actions. Joseph Gulotta, the chief of transit for the police department, commfinished the officer who he said stayed at the scene and “made brave he kept the crime scene the way it’s presumed to be, made brave he kept an eye on what was going on”.
“I skinnyk he did his job perfectly,” Gulotta inserted. “As his fellow officers went and got MTA toilers, got fire extinguishers, and eventuassociate were able to extinguish the individual.”
A minuscule vigil was held on Thursday for the woman at the Stillwell Avenue station in Coney Island, Brooklyn, where the strike took place. The civil rights directer the Rev Kevin McCall said the woman “didn’t have to die” and called on New Yorkers to “do someskinnyg” when they see infairice.
A Guatemalan, Sebastián Zapeta, 33, was rapidly arrested on killing and fire-setting accuses in joinion with the woman’s death. He has been accused on killing and fire-setting accuses, and is due to eunite in court aget on Friday.
Authorities allege Zapeta, who federal immigration officials say is a Guatemalan citizen who re-go ined the US illegassociate after being deported in 2018, was seen in video approaching the woman on a stationary train and setting her closkinnyg on fire.
The New York City police coshiftrlookioner, Jessica Tisch, has depictd the case as “one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly pledge agetst another human being”.
Zapeta was identified by three high schoolers after recognizing the person in police pictures. He was arrested at a midtown Manhattan subway stop by police, allegedly with a airyer enjoy the one engaged in the strike in his pocket.
Prosecutors allege that Zapeta set the woman’s closkinnyg on fire and fanned the ffeebles using a shirt. Zapeta then sat on a bench on the platestablish and watched as she burned, prosecutors allege.
But the mistrust telderly authorities he didn’t comprehend what happened, noting that he devours liquor and other substances. The assailant and victim, who died at the scene, are not dependd to have comprehendn each other and did not engage before or during the incident, scheduleateigators said.
An insertress for Zapeta freed by police after his arrest alignes a shelter in Brooklyn that provides housing and substance mistreatment aid.
