New York high school student sentenced to five and a half years for setting homeless man on fire in subway

A 19-year-old student was sentenced to five and a half years in federal prison for deliberately igniting a fire that severely burned a sleeping homeless man on a New York City subway train.

New York high school student sentenced to five and a half years for setting homeless man on fire in subway

A 19-year-old high school senior was sentenced to five and a half years in federal prison for deliberately setting fire to a homeless man sleeping in a New York City subway car. The attack left the victim with severe burns and permanent scarring, according to CNN International and the Correio da Manhã.

Hiram Carrero, the defendant, pleaded guilty in March to a federal arson charge. The sentencing took place on Tuesday at the federal courthouse in Manhattan, where the judge imposed a term above the mandatory minimum required by law.

The incident occurred in the early hours of December 1, 2025. Carrero intentionally lit a piece of paper on fire, which then ignited the clothing of a sleeping homeless man in the subway car. During his plea hearing, the teenager admitted that he had started the blaze on purpose.

Prosecutors told the court that Carrero had tried to kill "a sleeping homeless man, burning him alive and leaving him trapped in a moving subway car." They emphasized that the victim survived only because emergency services responded quickly after the train made the short run between Penn Station and Times Square.

The crime was not charged as homicide only because of the rapid medical intervention, prosecutors noted. They also rejected Carrero's explanation that he had been drinking alcohol and smoking drugs on the day of the incident.

The defense attorney, Jennifer Brown, asked the court for leniency, highlighting Carrero's troubled background. She stated that he was born prematurely with traces of drugs in his system and was abandoned by his biological parents at the hospital immediately after birth. Brown also pointed out that the young man had intellectual difficulties and that his situation worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic when he could no longer attend school in person.

Sources: Correio da Manhã, CNN International

Source: Correio da Manhã