She was burned and no one knows her name. How homelessness, crime and a broken immigration system met in a subway car

It’s been a week since a woman died in a New York subway car, allegedly set on fire by an undocumented homeless man. She has not yet been identified, and the man accused of her murder says he doesn’t even remember being there.

Crime renewed focus on a multi-layered and inextricable set of problems felt almost daily in America’s largest city: homelessness, crime and the nation’s broken immigration system.

The gruesome details of the crime and videos from the scene quickly spread on social media, leaving New York lawmakers to highlight the city’s failure to provide housing, address the ongoing mental health crisis and improve public safety.

Riding the F train for shelter

Both the suspect and the victim rode the F train to the end of the line in Brooklyn last Sunday, a common practice of homeless people seeking shelter from the cold at night. Once the train arrived at the station, authorities said the suspect, Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, walked up to the victim and used a lighter to burn her.

As the woman burned alive, Zapeta-Calil appeared to watch from a bench on the platform as bystanders recorded video and police struggled to put out the flames.

Zapeta-Calil, who arrived in the United States from Guatemala in 2018, recently checked in and out. homeless shelters across town. Zapeta-Calil’s last known residence, according to police, was a shelter in Brooklyn that provides help for people with substance abuse disorders.

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced an indictment Friday against Zapeta-Calil, charging him with first- and second-degree murder and arson. Gonzalez said investigators from his office, the New York City Police Department and the city coroner’s office are still working to identify the victim.

“Just because someone appears to have lived in a homeless situation doesn’t mean there won’t be a family devastated by the tragic way they lost their life,” Gonzalez said.

Brooklyn Councilman Justin Brannan, a Democrat who represents parts of Coney Island, said homeless people routinely ride the subway to the end of line stations to seek shelter from the elements and at night. They are usually met by workers who try to persuade them to accept the city’s services and shelters, but the offers are often rejected.

Brannan, whose district includes two end-of-the-line stations, said the constant presence of homeless people and their frequent denial of city services is proof that the city’s approach to the homelessness crisis isn’t working.

“The fact that so many people are seeking refuge in our subway system is a testament to how bad the shelter situation is,” Brannan told CNN. “Someone would rather spend their day riding the subway back and forth than accept shelter – that’s an indictment of the whole system.”

Crime under the streets

Crime rates in the city’s subway system have dropped 10 percent since New York Gov. Kathy Hochul launched a subway safety initiative in March, according to data provided by Hochul’s office. The plan included additional resources for mental health services, a plan to install surveillance cameras throughout the train system and the deployment of National Guard officers. Overall, crime is down 42% since January 2021.

However, several high-profile incidents involving homeless people and other passengers – including some resulting in deaths – continued to fuel anxiety among city residents and commuters about system security.

“Our subways have become this de facto mental health facility,” Brannan said. The subway might look different to people depending on what time they ride the trains, which run 24 hours a day, every day of the year.

“The reality on the subway is very different from the rush and off-peak commute. Someone who commutes after 11pm or before 5 or 6am sees a very different reality while on that train,” he said.

The fight to house migrants

More than 225,000 migrants have come through New York since the spring of 2022, according to figures provided by City Hall. Since then, Mayor Eric Adams’ administration has spent more than $6 billion to meet the city’s housing obligation, struggling to provide shelter to every migrant arriving in the city.

As a right-to-shelter jurisdiction, New York City is legally mandated to provide shelter to any homeless person in the city who needs it. The legal requirement forced the city to look beyond its typical shelter options — turning to hotels, parkland and a network of shelter providers.

Zapeta-Calil bounced around the city’s shelter system recently, according to senior law enforcement officials briefed on the investigation. The multiple shelters likely reflect the city’s 60-day rule for single male migrants. The policy allows men to stay in a shelter for a maximum of 60 days before having to reapply or leave the shelter system.

“They are used”

While much of the focus has been on Zapeta-Calil’s immigration status and the graphic nature of the crime, homeless advocates said the case also highlights the struggle of state and local government to provide housing and services to people who need them badly.

Dave Giffen, executive director of the Coalition for the Homeless, the nation’s oldest homeless advocacy and services organization, told CNN the attack underscores how deep-rooted the problem is in the city.

“What’s frustrating about all of this is that when these horrific incidents happen and homeless people are victimized or, in the rare cases where they are the perpetrators, they are used for political ends rather than doing anything to provide permanent housing and services,” Giffen said. .

Further evidence of the acute nature of the nation’s homelessness crisis was presented in a Department of Housing and Urban Development. report released Fridaywhich shows the number of people experiencing homelessness in a single night in 2024 as the highest ever recorded.

The data shows that more than 770,000 people experienced homelessness in a single night across the country in 2024. The number represents an 18% increase on last year and the biggest annual increase since the count began in 2007.

About 23 out of every 10,000 people in the United States “experienced homelessness in an emergency shelter, safe haven, transitional housing program, or unsheltered location across the country,” the report said.

Homelessness has increased significantly in many of America’s largest cities as a result of the affordable housing crisis, rising inflation, and increased immigration to the United States. Natural disasters have also contributed, as have homelessness prevention programs since the end of the pandemic era.

According to the New York City Department of Homeless Services’ daily census, more than 86,000 New Yorkers were housed in the shelter system as of Friday, including more than 32,000 children.

A face in the crowd

The nature of the as-yet-unidentified victim’s injuries has made the identification process extremely difficult, but investigators with the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office are working to trace the steps the woman took that day before she ended up sleeping on the train. Gonzalez said they also use advanced DNA and fingerprint technology.

“We’re working to try to go back and track when she entered the subway system and exactly — if there’s a clear image of her face,” Gonzalez said Friday.

Giffen told CNN that the difficulty of identifying the victim so far underscores how homeless people become invisible to everyone around them. He said homeless people usually have a hard time keeping important documents and identification because they are always moving from one place to another and their belongings are often stolen.

“Especially around the holidays, it just underscores what a tragedy this is — we’ve gotten so used to seeing human beings sleeping in public spaces that it’s no wonder we’ve forgotten who they are,” Giffen said.

“The level of dehumanization is tragic and it’s something that probably happened long before this tragic act of violence.”

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