UPDATE 12/22 6:08 p.m. ET:
Police sources say a Guatemalan migrant has been arrested on allegations he lit a sleeping woman on fire inside a Coney Island F train on Sunday morning and watched her burn to death. The suspect’s immigration status is unclear, although he entered the country in Arizona in June 2018 and was detained by border patrol agents. He has not been charged as of this writing.
Advertisement
🚨 NY POST: The man who lit woman on fire and watched her burn in NYC subway is a Guatemalan migrant and has been arrested by NYPD.
h/t: @EricLDaugh pic.twitter.com/ZLtCXBbWMV
— Publius (@OcrazioCornPop) December 22, 2024
Original Story
Just a few short weeks after American hero Daniel Penny was acquitted of murder after stopping a madman who was raging through a New York City subway car, news is hitting Sunday afternoon that a woman has been burned alive on a subway car in Coney Island.
JUSTICE SERVED: Daniel Penny Jurors Reach Their Verdict
Daniel Penny to Be Charged in Death of Jordan Neely
There is video going around social media that allegedly shows the perpetrator of the horrific act sitting on a bench watching as the woman burns. After a while, he gets up and walks away.
We are sharing a pixelated version of the video here.
Warning: coarse language
🚨 INSANE: A woman was literally BURNED ALIVE on the New York Subway by a man who struck a match and threw it on her
THIS is why we need more Daniel Pennys
NOBODY did anything to help, and the suspect, picture below, walked away.
INFURIATING. pic.twitter.com/u59xoT1YKl
— Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) December 22, 2024
As the tweet above notes, it doesn’t appear that any bystanders—including a police officer who wanders through the video—appeared to come to the woman’s aid. This could be due to the “Daniel Penny Effect,” where Good Samaritans fear getting involved because injustice rules in New York.
Details of what happened are starting to emerge.
Advertisement
Investigators believe that the woman was sleeping when the man — who was sitting across from the victim at the time — got up, walked over and tossed a match on her, sources said.
Cops extinguished the fire and EMS declared her dead on the scene.
Liquor bottles were laying around the victim, though it wasn’t clear if they played any part in the blaze.
The suspect is a man, around 25 to 30 years old, who police estimate to be 5-foot, 6-inches tall and weighing 150 lbs. He was last seen wearing a gray hoodie, jeans, brown boots and a dark knit hat with red band.
Curiously, at the same time the news of this brutal attack was emerging, New York Governor Kathy Hochul (D) tweeted a self-congratulatory message bragging that her administration has made subways “safer.”
This holiday season, we’re hard at work for you.
More money in your pockets.
Safer streets and subways.
A stronger New York State.
Take a look: pic.twitter.com/97UyfT3QsK
— Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) December 22, 2024
Astonishingly, she then callously tweeted out photos of her taking selfies on the subway.
In March, I took action to make our subways safer for the millions of people who take the trains each day.
Since deploying the @NationalGuardNY to support @NYPDnews and @MTA safety efforts and adding cameras to all subway cars, crime is going down, and ridership is going up. pic.twitter.com/T7uRxx9nIO
— Governor Kathy Hochul (@GovKathyHochul) December 22, 2024
What is even going on here? A woman is brutally murdered in the most horrific way possible, and the governor of the state in which the heinous attack took place is taking a clearly underserved victory lap across social media. Not a great look for Hochul.
Advertisement
Authorities are looking for the public’s assistance and are offering a $10,000 for information leading to his arrest. Some on social media are speculating that the man may be an illegal immigrant, but there is no official information to confirm that.
UPDATE: Thanks to a sharp-eyed citizen, the suspect is now in custody, per the NY Post‘s update:
Authorities have arrested the man they say lit a sleeping woman on fire inside a Coney Island F train on Sunday morning, The Post has learned.
Police sources say a civilian identified the suspected killer as he rode on a train at 34th Street in Manhattan.
The witness waved down the cops, who later picked the suspect up and detained him.
He has not been charged with a crime yet, sources added.
This is a breaking story. We will keep you updated when more information becomes available.
