An illegal Guatemalan migrant who previously snuck back into the United States after being deported is accused in relation to the death of a woman found engulfed in flames on a New York City train on Sunday (December 22), the New York Post reports.
The migrant, whose name was not revealed as he's yet to be formally charged, is reported to have illegally entered the Arizona border in 2018, but was deported and shipped back to Guatemala days later. The suspect later crossed back into the United States, at which point he ended up north of New York City, although it's unclear how long he was in the city before the incident occurred, sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed to the New York Post.
The Guatemalan national was reported to be staying at a converted migrant shelter that previously served as a Randall's Island Days Inn on 36th Street, an address he provided when issued a transit ticket in 2023. Police said he was watching the passenger sleep when he set a straphanger on fire, causing her to die a fiery death.
Police received a report of a fire at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station just prior to 7:30 a.m. local time and found the woman sitting on the idled train upon arrival, the department confirmed. Officers extinguished the fire and the woman was pronounced dead at the scene by emergency medical services responders.
The woman's death occurred one month after a fire knocked out a chunk of F train service to southern Brooklyn for more than two hours. Trains were suspended in both directions just before 1:00 p.m. until just before 3:30 p.m. local time, the Daily News reported.