Community advocates gathered at Brooklyn’s Coney Island Stillwell Avenue subway station on Thursday afternoon to mourn a woman who was burned to death in the station on Sunday morning.
The Thursday afternoon prayer vigil, hosted by activist Rev. Kevin McCall, was held to commemorate the yet-to-be-identified woman who died after being set on fire while she was sleeping aboard a stationary F train at the Stillwell Avenue station early on Dec. 22.
The group held hands and prayed both at the station’s entrance and on the F Train platform near where the woman was killed.
McCall, who founded the Crisis Action Center, and the other advocates also called on elected officials to do more to keep New Yorkers safe on the subways.
“We are here today because of this horrific crime that has taken place. This crime should not have happened,” McCall said. “The slogan in this city is ‘if you see something, say something.’ But no one said something. No one did nothing. They just watched this young lady burn on fire alive.”
The Brooklyn District Attorney’s office on Tuesday charged Sebastian Zapeta-Calil — the man suspected of committing the heinous act — with first-degree murder. Zapeta-Calil, 33, allegedly set the woman ablaze using a lighter; cops say he then allegedly attempted to keep the fire going by fanning the flames with a shirt.
Parts of the incident were caught on videos that have gone viral on social media.
The alleged perpetrator, who did not enter a plea on Dec. 24, is a migrant who entered the country illegally in 2018, according to US Immigration and Customers Enforcement (ICE). He reportedly lived in a city shelter, although the Department of Homeless Services has refused to confirm that to amNewYork Metro, citing privacy reasons.
While McCall commended the authorities for catching Zapeta-Calil, he blamed Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul for not doing enough to prevent such incidents from occurring in the first place.
“Thank God they caught the person that did this,” McCall said. “But it’s not just the person’s fault. It’s the system’s fault. The system failed. The death of this young lady is on the hands of the mayor. It’s on the hands of the governor. Because they are supposed to be providing resources.”
McCall also questioned why there were not more available fire extinguishers on the train.
Evangeline Byars, who attended the vigil representing the group Stronger Together, said that there is a clear disparity between how the city mobilized to respond to the recent murder of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and how it treats everyday New Yorkers who get attacked on the subways.
She further charged the mayor has “done nothing” to address the city’s mental health crisis thought to have fueled many recent violent incidents on the subways.
“We just saw the UnitedHealthcare CEO murdered and there was an immediate response and call to action and protocols being put in place to ensure that that never happens again,” Byars said. “What about us? We’re constantly being attacked, assaulted, thrown in front of trains, accosted by the mentally ill.”
