Rev. Kevin McCall and different advocates kneel on the F prepare platform on the Stillwell Avenue-Coney Island station on Dec. 26, 2024 for a vigil to honor the girl who was burned alive on the station 4 days earlier.
Photograph by Erica Worth
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Group advocates gathered at Brooklyn’s Coney Island Stillwell Avenue subway station on Thursday afternoon to mourn a girl who was burned to loss of life within 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 girl who died after being set on hearth whereas she was sleeping aboard a stationary F prepare on the Stillwell Avenue station early on Dec. 22.
The group held fingers and prayed each on the station’s entrance and on the F Practice platform close to the place the girl was killed.
McCall, who based the Disaster Motion Middle, and the opposite advocates additionally known as on elected officers to do extra to maintain New Yorkers secure on the subways.
“We are here today because of this horrific crime that has taken place. This crime should not have happened,” McCall mentioned. “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 slogan in this city is ‘if you see something, say something.’ But no one said something. No one did nothing,” Rev. Kevin McCall mentioned. “They just watched this young lady burn on fire alive.”Photograph by Erica Worth
The Brooklyn District Lawyer’s workplace on Tuesday charged Sebastian Zapeta-Calil — the person suspected of committing the heinous act — with first-degree homicide. Zapeta-Calil, 33, allegedly set the girl ablaze utilizing a lighter; cops say he then allegedly tried to maintain the hearth going by fanning the flames with a shirt.
Components of the incident had been caught on movies which have gone viral on social media.
The alleged perpetrator, who didn’t enter a plea on Dec. 24, is a migrant who entered the nation illegally in 2018, based on US Immigration and Prospects Enforcement (ICE). He reportedly lived in a metropolis shelter, though the Division of Homeless Providers has refused to verify that to New York News Metro, citing privateness causes.
The group held fingers and prayed each on the station’s entrance and on the F Practice platform close to the place the girl was killed.Photograph by Erica Worth
Whereas McCall recommended the authorities for catching Zapeta-Calil, he blamed Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul for not doing sufficient to forestall such incidents from occurring within the first place.
“Thank God they caught the person that did this,” McCall mentioned. “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 additionally questioned why there weren’t extra out there hearth extinguishers on the prepare.
A passenger waits to board an F prepare on the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station in Brooklyn on Dec. 26, 2024.Photograph by Erica Worth
Evangeline Byars, who attended the vigil representing the group Stronger Collectively, mentioned that there’s a clear disparity between how the town mobilized to answer the current homicide of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson and the way it treats on a regular basis New Yorkers who get attacked on the subways.
She additional charged the mayor has “done nothing” to deal with the town’s psychological well being disaster thought to have fueled many current 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 mentioned. “What about us? We’re constantly being attacked, assaulted, thrown in front of trains, accosted by the mentally ill.”
