SERIALously - 228: Mom Left Baby with 3 Men at Casino, Stabbed 14x Over Bad Pizza Tip, 12 Human Remains Found & Woman Kills Husband Then Flees on Kayak

Episode Date: January 2, 2025

Today’s episode dives into everything happening this week in true crime. From new cases to updates on existing ones and more. Hero Bread Visit https://www.hero.co and use code AE for 10% off Shop... the Merch: www.annieelise.com Follow the podcast on TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@serialouslypodcast Follow the podcast on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/serialouslypod/ Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/annieelise All Social Media Links: https://www.flowcode.com/page/annieelise_ SERIALously FB Page: https://www.facebook.com/SERIALouslyAnnieElise/ About Me: https://annieelise.com/ For Business Inquiries: 10toLife@WMEAgency.com 

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Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey, True Crime Besties, welcome back to an all new episode of Serialistly with me, Annie Elise. Headline Highlights Edition, also 2025 edition. Happy New Year. And here's a little New Year's snacky treat for you guys. I have been hearing so much feedback from all of you guys over on YouTube asking if I could cross post the Headline Highlights episodes onto YouTube because before it was audio only,
Starting point is 00:00:49 you could only listen to it on the podcast. And I am here to officially announce that you asked and I am here delivering starting now, starting right now this week, Headline Highlights will be posted on YouTube as well. So you can either continue listening to us over on the podcast app, whichever one you use, or you can watch it over on YouTube
Starting point is 00:01:10 and on my Tender Life YouTube. But excited about that. Now we have a lot to talk about today because unfortunately 2025 seems like there's not gonna be any better quality people out there from 2024, still the scum of the earth, disgusting human beings who are doing just like evil, vile shit. Sorry for cussing,
Starting point is 00:01:31 but I guess that should be a New Year's resolution, right? I need to like clean up my mouth. Anyway, let's talk about this first case that takes us to Florida, because this case is pretty wild, okay? A baby was abandoned inside a hard rock casino. And there's a lot of details that haven't really been revealed here,
Starting point is 00:01:48 but I'm gonna break down like the timeline for you. And there is something very sketchy here. And I'm not gonna jump and use the word trafficking because I feel like everybody always jumps to that so quickly, but there is definitely something weird here. And I'd be interested to know what you guys think about all of this.
Starting point is 00:02:06 So an Oklahoma woman was arrested because she allegedly left her baby abandoned in this Florida hotel and casino. It was Christmas Eve, okay? And a police officer was called into the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Florida, in Hollywood, Florida to be specific. And when he got there, he said that he quote,
Starting point is 00:02:23 "'observed an infant who was wearing a soil diaper and just out in the open elements. Now, the exact age of the child has not yet been released. Like I said, there is very few details, but just think about it. This baby was left all alone, young enough to be in a diaper, obviously, and nobody was taking care of them. It's pretty unthinkable, right? They also, as we know, babies, I mean, have no way of like speaking, protecting themselves, taking care of themselves. So they really are at the mercy of whatever human being discovers them. Now someone who worked at the hotel told the officer that they witnessed three unknown
Starting point is 00:02:58 men who had dropped this baby off. And not just dropped the baby off like on the curb, not like that's okay, obviously, but like they apparently had the baby in a stroller, and then they wheeled this stroller to the concierge desk. But then when they did that, they just walked away. Which, what are you talking about? Like three men just dropping a baby off at the front desk or at the bell desk or the concierge desk
Starting point is 00:03:18 or whatever it was, like, it's really crazy. So then the baby was by themselves there for about 30 minutes until that police officer arrived. So I don't know what the plan was, why nobody was following these three men, asking them questions why these three men have this baby. It's very bizarre. So the police officer then said that the baby's mother, a woman named Ruby Verdusco, walked
Starting point is 00:03:43 into the casino 15 minutes later. Now, she apparently told the police officer that she had, quote, fought with her baby daddy. And then, because of that fight, she left the baby with some of her friends for a little while. Which, I'm sorry, but this woman told a police officer that she got into a fight with her, you know, baby daddy. So, because of that, she left her child unattended at a casino to deal with this argument. Now, another thing is she couldn't name any
Starting point is 00:04:10 of these so-called friends that she left her literal child with. She couldn't name them to the cop. So it feels not only like a recipe for disaster, of course, but also pretty shady. Like you're saying, even if you are a scum of the earth mother and saying, oh, I left them with my friends because I needed to go deal with my toxic relationship. Don't care if they leave
Starting point is 00:04:28 them, you know, at a concierge desk or whatever. But then you can't even name the friends that you left your baby with. Like something just isn't working here for me. Now, authorities also said that she appeared to be super, super drunk. Ruby just like reeked of alcohol. Police say that she was slurring her speech, her breath smelled like a literal mini bar, and that she was just, you know, hammered. Wasted, super drunk. Police said that Ruby was though, able to tell the authorities her baby's name.
Starting point is 00:04:57 But she was still too drunk, or irresponsible, or both, to give them the correct date of birth. Kind of feels like Mother of the year, right? You can't even tell them your baby's birthday, give me a break. So then as if there's not enough chaos in the mix already, Ruby then calls a man on the phone who she claims is her baby's daddy.
Starting point is 00:05:16 Now his name was never released. However, he did speak with the police on the phone and he confirmed that he was in fact the father of the child. But he said that he was in Oklahoma, pretty far away from Florida, right? So he said that he was in fact the father of the child. But he said that he was in Oklahoma, pretty far away from Florida, right? So he said that he had no way of getting to the Hard Rock Hotel to pick up his child.
Starting point is 00:05:31 He also told the police that they should arrest Rui and that the state should just take away custody of their baby completely. Which there's a lot to unpack with all of that right now, okay, because first of all, she said that she had an argument with the baby's dad, and that's why she left the baby with her friends, but he's in Oklahoma. So was the argument on the phone?
Starting point is 00:05:50 And even if it was like the worst argument of all time, you're on the phone. Like, why would that require you to leave your child with friends who you can't even name? Not that there's any excuse that would make that, you know, any more justifiable. But then he is in Oklahoma saying, yeah, we got a fight, that is my kid, but she's unfit.
Starting point is 00:06:10 So the state should just take custody of the child. Which in my opinion, that's a clear indication that he doesn't care about the wellbeing of his baby. She clearly doesn't give a shit about the wellbeing of her baby. There we go again. It's just really frustrating. And the police obviously thought that this whole situation was fishy because remember, she had said the whole reason
Starting point is 00:06:31 she left the baby at this hotel was because she got in a fight with him and it just didn't make any sense. So not long after that phone call, this baby daddy, who is unnamed at this point, called back to tell the police that he was lying, that he actually wasn't in Oklahoma. He was in Orlando. But he said even though he was in Orlando, he told the police officer he, quote, wasn't sure if he could come to the Hard Rock and retrieve his child. Which, what are you talking about? Like, first, why are you lying that you're in a different state? Then you call back saying, oh, no, no, I am in the same state. I am in
Starting point is 00:07:02 Florida, but I don't know if I can get a ride to the Hard Rock to get my baby, so give the baby to the state. Like Uber, cab, I don't care, hitchhike my man, like figure it out. But again, I think there's something else going on here. Like the just complete disregard for this baby is next level. So this baby was literally left helpless at this casino
Starting point is 00:07:23 with the mother being drunk, clearly unable to take care of them. And now you have this supposed father on the phone just leaving the baby high and dry. So, absolutely mind-boggling. So police then, when all of this was like unfolding, arrested Ruby since she didn't know where, who with, or how long she had left her own child alone. So she has been charged with two counts
Starting point is 00:07:43 of felony child neglect. Police then called the Florida Department of Children and Families, who ended up taking custody of this baby. But like I said, there are still so many unanswered questions, like, how the heck did this baby get left alone in the first place? Who were these three guys who dropped this baby off? Why did they think that the Hard Rock Casino was a good place to drop this baby off at?
Starting point is 00:08:07 Was Ruby staying at the hotel? Did the baby just get dropped off there? Was there some sort of, I don't know, like handoff, pass off transaction? I don't know. It is just insane and disgusting when you think about this baby that was so neglected by the two people who were supposed to look out for them.
Starting point is 00:08:24 I mean, I hope that whoever these people are, they see justice because this is just absolutely unacceptable to me. Now, we're gonna move a little bit further across the opposite direction, back towards me now in the country, and actually out of the country, because now we are going to go near the Mexico and US border. Because this feels like it is straight out of a horror movie. I'm talking like horror movie that's like not sci-fi, but like it's so beyond scary
Starting point is 00:08:50 that it doesn't even seem believable. Like Hills Have Eyes kind of scary, because a dozen skeletons have now been found in secret graves near the US Mexican border. And this is crazy because we just covered another story in a recent episode of Headline Highlights where there were 20 human skulls being found on a property in New Mexico. Just feels like, why are there so many remains being found, right?
Starting point is 00:09:12 So the bodies were found last week in Chihuahua, which is a northern state in Mexico. And this mass grave site was just south of El Paso. Now, authorities said that they found 12 bodies in total in 11 secret graves, which, that is just insane. I mean, that is a dozen dead bodies in a hidden mass grave. Like, it is absolutely horrifying. They found the first body on the 18th of December. Then, they expanded their search, leading the police to find the other 10 graves. Now, all of the remains are currently unidentified, and everything that has been found so far has been sent to forensics, but there isn't
Starting point is 00:09:49 a lot of information. The investigation, of course, is ongoing. However, hopefully with the Forensic Medical Service, they'll be able to figure out what the cause of deaths were, the identities of these people, what happened, maybe start narrowing in on some sort of suspect. I don't know. But to just kind of level set it statistically, currently there are approximately 120,000 missing people in Mexico. And because of the insanely high number of missing persons, friends and family usually end up having to search
Starting point is 00:10:19 for the victims all by themselves or form like independent search groups. So it hasn't been released how they originally found these bodies or where the victims originally died. But again, it's all part of a continued ongoing investigation. But anytime there's like a hidden grave site or mass remains being found,
Starting point is 00:10:37 it literally sends a chill down my spine. It also kind of gives like Yellowstone vibes. I don't know if you guys watched that, but you know how they drop them off at the train station? You get what I'm saying? Where it's like, then somebody like discovers this massive dump site. I don't know, it makes me nervous.
Starting point is 00:10:51 Now this other story, okay? We're gonna move into the next story. I know I'm going a little quick, but I just have so much to talk with you guys about. I didn't think that this was real. I saw it come up. I can't remember if I saw it come up on my For You page on TikTok or if it was on Instagram,
Starting point is 00:11:06 but I thought that it was like a prank at first until I started researching it. But I want you to brace yourselves for this next one because it's pretty wild. So a pizza delivery woman in Florida allegedly came back to a delivery site and then she stabbed the customer repeatedly over a bad tip that she received. And it gets worse, okay?
Starting point is 00:11:26 If your jaw's on the floor right now, it's about to like sink below the floor, okay? Because Brianna Alvelo, who is just 22 years old, delivered an order to the Riviera Motel in Kissimmee, Florida. She had delivered the pizza to a woman named Melinda Arizari. The order was said to have been around roughly $33, but Melinda only had a $50 bill, so that's what she gave for the tip, like $50 to do the whole thing. But Melinda asked Brianna if she could have change to break that $50. However, Brianna
Starting point is 00:11:55 said she didn't have any change. I don't know if that's true. Maybe she was looking to get the whole tip, which would what be $17. But anyway, after looking for smaller bills, all Melinda could find was $2. So she gave her the $2 as a tip because she wasn't gonna give her the full 17. And then I guess she must've paid on her phone on an app. I don't know, because she didn't have any other cash. I don't know the story, but basically what I know is that
Starting point is 00:12:20 the pizza delivery driver left with $2 as a tip on the $33 pizza order. Now, according to Melinda, Brianna then just rolled her eyes and kind of walked away without saying anything. But take a listen to this. My pizza came cold. My wings came cold. I personally am not going to tip anybody who is bringing my pizza late at an awkward time and my pizza is cold. And at night, you know, so I was already kind of getting confused. Like, I already felt a little weird about it,
Starting point is 00:12:54 but I didn't think anything of it. So when I got to the door, she seemed very sweet. She had her hair down. You know, she didn't give me no hostile energy until I gave her the money to pay. Um, the pizza and, like, the order, it was about $33. Um, I gave her two 20s and a 10. So I gave her 50 bucks.
Starting point is 00:13:20 I'm expecting to receive, like, $17 change back, which I was gonna give her a tip, you know, like I do to everybody that delivers my food. But being that it came late, being that my food was cold, being that it was an awkward time frame, and as soon as I handed this woman the money, she walked away out the door, and my door was still cracked open
Starting point is 00:13:48 because I'm expecting my change back. And she just tried to walk away. And I was like, this is how I said it, this is exactly how I said it. Hey girl, I need my change back. And she was like, oh, you need your change. Well, we don't offer change. So she ended up with a $2 tip, which I honestly felt like she didn't even deserve because my pizza was cold.
Starting point is 00:14:14 It was super late. You know, I was just like, she's already giving me attitude. Now, look, I'm sure nobody is a fan of crappy tips, but what happens next in this situation is literally beyond anything I have ever heard. It is just unheard of. That's why I thought this was a prank. Now, I'm not sure how this even escalated the way that it did, but Brianna allegedly came back to the motel shortly after that delivery, but this time she was armed. She also wasn't alone.
Starting point is 00:14:41 This time she was with a man whose identity has not yet been released, but he was armed with a gun. And Brianna allegedly was armed with a pocket knife. Now, when they got back to the motel, Brianna and this man were dressed in all black. They were also wearing face masks. So they loudly just started pounding on the motel door, waiting for Melinda to answer. And when Melinda opened the door, they forced themselves inside her motel room. There, inside the room, it was Melinda, her boyfriend, and her five-year-old daughter. They were apparently all there to celebrate a birthday. From there, she just, they... As soon as he came in, he pointed the gun at me.
Starting point is 00:15:18 Then he pointed the gun at my daughter. I said, I put my hands up, I said, Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, I have my child. We don't got nothing in there. What's going on? No one said anything. I just said, I got my daughter. What is this? What's going on? So once inside, the man forced the boyfriend
Starting point is 00:15:35 to go inside the bathroom and he held him inside this bathroom at gunpoint. Now, while he kept the boyfriend in the bathroom, Brianna went through Melinda's purse, kind of just like rifling through it. She broke the boyfriend in the bathroom, Brianna went through Melinda's purse, kind of just like rifling through it. She broke the daughter's Nintendo Switch, was like just really trying to wreak havoc and scare everybody who was in that room.
Starting point is 00:15:54 And in all of this chaos, Melinda was trying desperately to protect her daughter, so she threw her on the bed. She tried to grab her cell phone, but Brianna grabbed the cell phone and then smashed it. Then she allegedly stabbed Melinda all over her body 14 times. The man then came out of the bathroom and he told Brianna it was time for them to go. So the two of them just left, as if they didn't just do something horrific over a literal pizza delivery tip,
Starting point is 00:16:21 OK? And it gets even worse, if you can believe that. But speaking about Melinda, she had stab wounds on her chest, her arms, her leg and stomach, and she also ended up having to get surgery for a ruptured lung. She was immediately rushed to the hospital,
Starting point is 00:16:37 but while she was at the hospital getting treated, she also found out she was pregnant. She was a few weeks pregnant to to be more specific. So, not only did this insane lunatic stab this woman 14 times, but she also stabbed her unborn child. I mean, not literally, but you know what I mean? She was pregnant. Now, as of the latest, the victim has been treated for her injuries and is currently in stable condition. Like, thank God. But it's just crazy to me that this even happened, because it was just a bad tip.
Starting point is 00:17:06 Like, who's gonna freak out and do a 14-stab massacre over a freaking tip? It's absurd. I guess that's a good reminder, though, for all of you who post me and door dash like me, like, I always give the 20 or 25%, right? Like, you don't know what kind of, like, lunatics are out there. So Brianna was arrested and she was booked into jail, and she's booked into jail
Starting point is 00:17:25 and she's facing charges of attempted murder, home invasion with a firearm, kidnapping and aggravated assault. Her bail was set at $55,000. The pizza place that she worked for, Marcos Pizza, has released a statement and they have said that they were completely cooperating with the authorities, that the safety and the wellbeing of their customer
Starting point is 00:17:44 is the top priority and that they will completely cooperate with this investigation. Now, as for the man who allegedly helped Brianna, he has apparently not yet been identified. He's still just out there. Now, in a statement, Melinda, the victim said, quote, I am scared and he knows exactly how my boyfriend looks.
Starting point is 00:18:01 He stared at the man for so long with a gun pointed to his head. I want them to get him as soon as possible because they're monsters. They should not be out on the street." Now, if you just kind of imagine that, that is terrifying. That's always the big scare, right? And the big fear when you have a home invasion or something like that, or somebody takes your ID, that they will know how to find you because and that they will retaliate because you can identify them. Now, in this situation, imagine the fear of finding out that you're pregnant, that you have a five-year-old daughter, that you have been in fact attacked and stabbed
Starting point is 00:18:33 14 times by this lunatic and her boyfriend, partner, whoever he is, friend, whatever he is, and that now she's behind bars and he may want to retaliate for that. It's just really, really scary. So I'm hopeful that Brianna flips and like tries to cut a deal and gives up the guy at least so that they're both off the streets. But I guess we'll just have to wait and see. But again, a good reminder to always be overly generous with tipping.
Starting point is 00:18:59 Okay, I'm gonna grab some water because I know I've been talking at super speed. We're gonna hear a quick word from today's sponsor and then I will be back. Okay, so you know how I always say I'm all about life balance? Well, let me talk to you about my newest obsession that I just got my latest delivery on and it is Hero Bread.
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Starting point is 00:20:57 So if your New Year's resolution is to eat healthier without sacrificing flavor, Hero Bread is the way to go. Trust me, you will never miss the sugar or the carbs. All right guys, I'm back. And now I need to talk to you about this other case that is coming out of Texas, because this is kind of wild. A Texas woman has been charged with murder after she allegedly shot her husband, lit his truck on fire, then, get this,
Starting point is 00:21:27 tried to escape from the scene by paddling away on a kayak. Like, what are you even talking about, okay? It's beyond, it feels like a Lifetime movie. So officials say that they were conducting a welfare check due to the fact that a father hadn't seen his son for quite some time. And when they did that welfare check, that's when they found the body of Tomas Calvera Jr. His body was inside a closet, and the authorities say he had been shot in the face.
Starting point is 00:21:54 Then, on that same day, authorities had to report to the scene of a burning vehicle, not knowing that it was at all related. But witnesses told the police that they saw a woman walking away from this burning truck that was on fire. Now the woman was identified as Faith Page Goines and Faith was Tomas's common law wife, which basically means that she lived with him, they were committed to each other. I think that, I don't know what the restrictions are,
Starting point is 00:22:19 I'm sorry, not restrictions, requirements are in Texas, but I feel like common law is something like seven or 10 years and then you're considered common law. So they were committed to each other and they lived together. However, they weren't legally married. But when the police found Faith, they found her, get this, rowing on a kayak somewhere near that burning truck. Police ended up searching Faith, and when they did,
Starting point is 00:22:39 they found that she had several severe burn marks on her body. She also had Tommas's ID on her. Now at this point, the police confirmed that the truck that had been burned definitely belonged to Tomas. So clearly it just was not looking good for Faith. She was then taken in for questioning and she allegedly confessed to police
Starting point is 00:22:58 that she had shot him and then burned his truck. Now Faith is charged with murder and arson and also causing serious bodily injury or death. The investigation is ongoing, so obviously there are a lot of unanswered questions, but the main one being what on earth led Faith to commit alleged murder? It's just crazy. I mean, right now, Faith is awaiting trial and it's unclear if she's going to enter any plea deals as of yet. We will watch it. But again, like to shoot your husband or common law husband in the face,
Starting point is 00:23:27 stuff him in a closet, burn his truck because I would imagine you're trying to burn the evidence and then flee on kayak. Like, what are you even talking about? It is just beyond. This next case also has to do with fire and it's a little bit kind of like the New York City fire.
Starting point is 00:23:47 Let me just get into it because I'm going to pry like talking circles. So it's a little bit similar, like I said, to the NYC subway arson case that we're going to talk about in a minute, but it's in North Carolina and it is a little bit different. So a young woman in North Carolina was just, you know, casually walking down the street when for some reason some sick stranger just came up behind her and then all of a sudden doused her in gasoline. And then after that, they set her on fire. Which, this is insane because this guy
Starting point is 00:24:13 is literally still unknown. And for no apparent reason, he just took her by surprise, dumped gasoline on her, and then used his cigarette to start the fire. It's insane. Why could you do this to my baby? You didn't have to do this to her. on her and then used his fire. It's insane. Why co my baby, you didn't have were told that she was le
Starting point is 00:24:32 and an unidentified male doused gasoline on her a inflicted on her. The wom old and her name is Ashanti Downey, and she was immediately rushed to the emergency room. She has second and third degree burns all down the right side of her body. After that, after being rushed to the emergency room, she was moved to a local burn center where officials said that her burns were critical, and the burns covered three quarters of her body.
Starting point is 00:25:02 However, thankfully, they were able to get her in stable condition. After the fire, her mother ended up starting an online fundraiser aiming to raise up to $75,000 because apparently the money, she says, is gonna help the family pay for treatment, for surgeries, for rehab, for all of it. Now, this is really sad, but Ashanti's 21st birthday was New Year's Day, which she of course had to celebrate
Starting point is 00:25:25 while she was recovering from these horrific burn injuries. The police are of course absolutely shocked at what happened and they haven't released any information about who the attacker could be, what the motivation could have been if it was just a crime of opportunity or what. Authorities also say they are still searching for the suspect, for tips, for a lead, for anything.
Starting point is 00:25:46 And they say anyone who has any information should come forward and tell the police that if you saw something, if you heard something, no detail is too small. The Harnett County Sheriff said, quote, it could have been domestic-related. It could have been a gang initiation. We're mystified by what's happened.
Starting point is 00:26:01 Which, yeah, me too. I mean, what is wrong with people? You have to be insane to just see a woman, a random woman, walking down the street and think to yourself, hey, I'm gonna set this woman on fire. Like, ugh, god, like, and we're gonna talk about New York in just a second here. Now in this case, thankfully, Ashanti was able to survive.
Starting point is 00:26:20 But still, her life is of course changed forever. She has third degree burns all over her body. It's gonna take extremely long time for her to recover, and you don't even get into the mental trauma and anguish that this will leave her with. I just can't even imagine. And that kind of takes us right into the case that is coming out of New York.
Starting point is 00:26:38 And a lot of you have been asking me to cover this, and it's really scary. I used to live in New York. I know I've mentioned that before, but I lived in New York for like, I don't even remember eight or nine years. I can't remember, but I would take the subway multiple times a day, 10 times a day, and I never felt unsafe.
Starting point is 00:26:54 Honestly, I never felt unsafe on the subway, even though I saw some crazy things, but now like post 2020, it's like a whole different ball game. Even when I travel back to New York, I'm scared to go on the subway, but that's just me. But anyway, you might have heard about this case last week because it was not only barbaric, but like so heinous that it just went viral everywhere. And it's one of the craziest things that I think I've ever seen. Like I said, it's similar to the one we just talked about, but unfortunately in this case, the victim did not survive.
Starting point is 00:27:23 It's hard to even talk about or think about because it is everything that humanity should not be, but here it is. So a man fatally lit a woman on fire while she was sleeping on a New York City subway train. It was December 22nd, and this woman, who the police have not named yet or released all the information about her yet,
Starting point is 00:27:42 was sleeping in a train car at the Coney Island Stillwell Avenue station. As she was sleeping, Sebastian Zepeda got onto the train and then he did something truly sinister and disgusting. He took a lighter and he set this woman's clothing on fire for no reason. Then this monster took a shirt to fan the flames, all to make the fire grow.
Starting point is 00:28:07 Then he just sat on a bench and he watched this woman literally burn alive, which how sick in the head do you have to be to pull something like that, right? And one of the worst parts is that there were witnesses. He did this in front of people, but nobody was able to step in and help her, whether they couldn't get to her,
Starting point is 00:28:24 whether they were too scared, whether they just didn't want to, I don't know. But it is so scary. Now, in the videos online, which I will warn you are extremely graphic, you can see him literally fanning the fire with this t-shirt. And he's just standing on the platform right outside the door of the subway car watching it all unfold. There are also people just standing on the platform right outside the door of the subway car, watching it all unfold. There are also people just standing on this platform, watching it as well, kind of just like frozen in shock, not really sure what to do. But it's crazy because it's like he wanted to see his handiwork and wasn't even trying to flee right away.
Starting point is 00:28:58 Also, in the videos, you can see that the woman is completely just like left alone, helpless, then standing upright, burning to death. She was motionless, just standing, holding onto the pole, stuck in pain, burning. It is really very difficult to watch, even with everything blurred out. So I just wanna warn you, I would not go Googling for these videos.
Starting point is 00:29:19 It is a difficult watch. Now, these are a couple of videos from witnesses who saw her burn inside that subway car. These are all over the internet and even though you're not going to see the visuals of this if you're not on YouTube, I just want to give you a little warning. It's even hard to listen to, especially knowing the fact that while this video was being taken, a woman was literally burning to death. But take a listen.
Starting point is 00:29:43 Oh, sorry to his family. This is a person right here. Oh, oh, bro. Joe. Oh, no. It was a brutal act. And, you know, I'm inhumane. He deserves whatever he's gonna get. Sebastian is from Guatemala, and he was in the U.S. illegally. According to documents, he was deported back in 2018,
Starting point is 00:30:16 but then he re-entered the U.S. sometime between then and now. According to the NYPD, his last known address was a Brooklyn homeless shelter for men who were struggling with substance abuse. The shelter he was staying at has not given any comment and has definitely not given any information on Sebastian either. According to the police, though, Sebastian stayed and he watched this entire thing unfold. Then, he didn't try to flee at any point during this horrific murder. Witnesses also said that he was just, you know, extremely calm the entire time. Now, the way that he was found was that his picture was captured on body cam footage and also on security camera footage. The image was then
Starting point is 00:30:56 posted online. And then later that day, some high schoolers who were riding the train recognized him. So they called the police to say they saw somebody who looked like the suspect, which, I mean, thank God they were able to catch him because who knows if he would have done this to somebody else? I mean, I would imagine he probably would have. So, Sebastian was arrested and charged with one count of first-degree murder and three counts of second-degree murder. He was also charged with one count of first-degree arson. Now, this is obviously pretty serious in and of itself because that first degree murder charge carries the possibility of life without parole. Originally, Sebastian pleaded not guilty
Starting point is 00:31:31 and he told the police that he drinks a lot of alcohol, that he didn't even know what happened, that like he was confused by everything, you know, tale as old as time, right? But he was trying to say that, you know, blame it on the alcohol. What's that song? Blame it on the, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, eh, February 7th. Federal officials also said that they will file a request for Sebastian to be turned over to ICE after the criminal case against him comes to a close. But the
Starting point is 00:32:09 whole thing, and I think the reason why so many people want coverage on this and are talking about it and why it's gone viral is because it truly is mind-boggling, right? I mean, for me, I literally cannot wrap my head around any of it. The way he literally just set her on fire and murdered her, watching, cool, calm, collected, not, you know, a care in the world, and then his justification or his excuses, oh, I drink a lot. I don't know what happened.
Starting point is 00:32:34 It's blurry. It's fuzzy. I mean, it's sick. He murdered somebody for no reason. And my opinion, I don't know if he's a realist, he probably would have done it again. Now Mayor Eric Adams posted on X or, you know, formerly Twitter, and he said, quote, this type of depraved behavior has no place in our subways,
Starting point is 00:32:51 and we are committed to working hard to ensure that there is swift justice for all victims of violent crime. He also said that they are pushing to bring additional federal charges for Sebastian, even though those probably won't add any time to a sentence, but I would imagine it still is just for the justice of it all, right? I mean, not exactly the way that I thought we would be starting 2025 off. I mean, I know it's a true crime podcast,
Starting point is 00:33:14 okay, guys? But like, I thought maybe we wouldn't have the depravity we always have, but we do. We do. People are just sick and twisted and evil. And if this is any indication of how 2025 is going to go, please just watch your back. Watch your back as always. Anyways, thank you guys so much for tuning in to another episode of Headline Highlights with me, Annie Elise. I appreciate you guys being here.
Starting point is 00:33:38 As a reminder, like I said, at the top of the episode, we will now be publishing these on YouTube as well. The YouTube channel is called tend to life. So you could check it out over there, but you can always continue listening for free right over here on whatever podcast app you use. All right, guys, thanks so much for tuning in. I will be back on the mic with you first thing Monday morning with a deep dive into an all new case.
Starting point is 00:33:58 And again, also, I guess as a little reminder, because I know some of you are still on break, whether it's from school, from work, from wherever. If you feel like you're running out of content to binge, because I know a ton of podcasters just, like, shut down for the last two weeks, I put out not only we've been putting out the regular content, but we also put out extra bonus episodes every Friday, right here on the podcast. Now, those are only available on the podcast app, Apple, specifically.
Starting point is 00:34:24 Or you can get access on Patreon, patreon.com slash Annie Elise. But those are bonus episodes, they are ad free. Right now, if you sign up, you unlock about 75 of them. So you will definitely have a lot of stuff to binge, but we put a new one out every Friday on top of that. So even once you catch up on the full 75, you will have a new one every single Friday.
Starting point is 00:34:44 So if you feel like you always need more content to binge, you don't just have enough, you know, I'm here to help you out. All right, guys. Thank you again. I'll be talking with you on Monday and until then be nice. Don't kill people. Watch your back. Don't join any cults and just stay safe.
Starting point is 00:34:58 All right. Thanks guys. Bye. Thanks guys, bye.

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