New York City police say they have taken into custody a person of interest in the death of a woman who may have fallen asleep on a stationary subway train before being lit on fire by a man she didn’t know.

Police arrested a man they said set a woman on fire while she appeared to be asleep on a New York City subway train on Sunday morning, killing her. The woman, who has not been identified, sat motionlessly aboard a stationary F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station in Brooklyn at about 7:30 a.

The suspect, an illegal immigrant, is facing murder and arson charges. An illegal immigrant from Guatemala accused of setting a woman on fire in a subway train at New York City and watching her burn to death insists he has no memory of the horrifying attack.

Police said an unknown male had approached the woman, set her on fire, and then left the subway car around 7:30 a.m.

A woman died after she was set on fire while sleeping on a New York City subway car Sunday morning in Brooklyn, according to police. A person of interest was taken into custody later in the day, New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at an early evening news conference.

The crime deepened a growing sense of unease among New Yorkers about the safety of the subway system. NEW YORK — A man accused of setting a woman on fire inside a New York City subway train and then watching her die after she was engulfed in flames is awaiting arraignment on Tuesday.