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

Today’s episode dives into everything happening this week in true crime. From new cases to updates on existing ones and more. Hero BreadVisit https://www.hero.co and use code AE for 10% off Shop the Merch:www.annieelise.comFollow the podcast on TikTok:https://www.tiktok.com/@serialouslypodcastFollow the podcast on Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/serialouslypod/Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/annieeliseAll 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:[email protected]

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Annie Elise?

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• 0:42Annie Elise?

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• 1:07Speaker 01

  My six-year-old little sister is taken from her bed and violently murdered, and we don't have any answers? It's been 30 years. It's not okay. We will find this person. It's not a question of if, but when.

• 1:16Speaker 02

  Who killed JonBenet Ramsey? You think you know this mystery? But do you know about the DNA at the crime scene? Can science finally solve this case? And who is unknown male one?

• 1:27Speaker 03

  An intruder, a third-party male.

• 1:29Speaker 04

  So unknown male one is out there somewhere.

• 1:32Speaker 03

  Yes. The stunning, all-new Diane Sawyer investigation, Friday night on ABC.

• 1:39Annie Elise?

  Hey, true crime besties. Welcome back to an all-new episode of Serial Sleep.

• 2:02Annie Elise?

  Hey everybody. Welcome back to an all new episode of Serialistically 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, 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

• 2:41Annie Elise?

  us over on the podcast app, whichever one you use, or you can watch it over on YouTube and on my Tendalife YouTube. But excited about that. Now, we have a lot to talk about today because unfortunately, 2025 seems like there's not going to be, you know, 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, 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

• 3:23Annie Elise?

  details that haven't really been revealed here, but I'm going to break down like the timeline for you. And there is something very sketchy here. And I'm not going to 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, I'm interested to know what you guys think about all of this. 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, "observed an infant who was wearing a soil- Diaper and just out in the open elements.

• 4:06Annie Elise?

  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, we, 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 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,

• 4:48Annie Elise?

  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 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, if why nobody was like 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 Verduzco, walked 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,

• 5:30Annie Elise?

  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 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 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-

• 6:13Annie Elise?

  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 minibar, 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, 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. Now, his name was never released. However, he did speak with the police on the phone,

• 6:58Annie Elise?

  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 had no way of getting to the Hard Rock Hotel to pick up his child. He also told the police that they should arrest Ruby, 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? 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.

• 7:41Annie Elise?

  But then, he is in Oklahoma saying, "Yeah, we got in a fight. That is my kid, but she is unfit, 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 well-being of his baby. She clearly doesn't give a shit about the well-being 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 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.

• 8:23Annie Elise?

  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 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 with the mother being drunk, clearly unable to take care of them. And now you have this supposed father on the phone,

• 9:06Annie Elise?

  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 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? Was Ruby staying at the hotel? Did the baby just get dropped off there?

• 9:48Annie Elise?

  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. I mean, I hope that whoever these people are, they see justice because this is just absolutely unacceptable to me. Now we're going to 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 that it doesn't even seem believable. Like Hills Have Eyes kind of scary. Because a dozen skeletons have

• 10:33Annie Elise?

  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? 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.

• 11:15Annie Elise?

  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 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 for the victims all by themselves, or form like independent search groups.

• 12:00Annie Elise?

  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, it literally sends a chill down my spine. It also kind of gives like Yellowstone vibes. I don't know if you guys watch 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 mass dump site? I don't know. Makes me nervous. 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.

• 12:43Annie Elise?

  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? 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.

• 13:28Annie Elise?

  But Melinda asked Brianna if she could have change to break that 50. However, Brianna 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 going to give her the full 17. And then I guess she must have 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 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.

• 14:11Speaker 05

  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, 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.

• 14:46Speaker 05

  The pizza and like the order, it was about $33.

• 14:52Speaker 05

  I gave her two twenties and a ten. So I gave her fifty bucks. I'm expecting to receive like seventeen dollars 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 timeframe. And the one, as soon as I handed this woman the money, she walked away out the door and my door was still cracked open because I'm expecting my change back. And she just tried to walk away. And I was like, this, this is how I said it did. This is exactly how I said it. Hey, girl, I need my change back.

• 15:38Speaker 05

  And she was like, oh, you need your change? Well, we don't offer change. So she ended up with a two dollar tip, which I honestly felt like she didn't even deserve because my pizza was cold. It was super late. You know, I was just like, she's already giving me attitude.

• 15:56Annie Elise?

  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. 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,

• 16:39Annie Elise?

  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.

• 16:50Speaker 05

  From there, she just, they, soon as he came in, he pointed the gun at me. 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?

• 17:06Speaker 05

  No one said anything. I just said, I got my daughter. What is this? What's going on?

• 17:11Annie Elise?

  So once inside, the man forced the boyfriend 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 daughter's Nintendo Switch, was like just really trying to wreak havoc and scare everybody who was in that room. 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 cellphone, but Brianna grabbed the cellphone 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

• 17:55Annie Elise?

  just do something horrific over a literal pizza delivery tip, okay? 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, but while she was at the hospital getting treated, she also found out she was pregnant. She was a few weeks pregnant, 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

• 18:39Annie Elise?

  just crazy to me that this even happened, because it was just a bad tip. 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 in DoorDash 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 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, Marco's Pizza, has released a statement. And they have said that they were completely cooperating with the authorities, that the safety and the well being of their customer is the top priority and that they will completely

• 19:24Annie Elise?

  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. 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 if 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,

• 20:06Annie Elise?

  that you have a five-year-old daughter, that you have been in fact attacked and stabbed 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. Okay, I'm going to grab some water because I know I've been talking at super speed. We're going to hear a quick word from today's sponsor and then I will be back.

• 20:47Annie Elise?

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• 21:29Annie Elise?

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• 22:13Annie Elise?

  at 15 bucks a month, go to mintmobile.com/ae. That's mintmobile.com/ae. $45 upfront payment required, equivalent to $15 per month. New customers on first three-month plan only. Taxes and fees extra. See Mint Mobile for details.

• 22:35Annie Elise?

  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, tried to escape from the scene by paddling away on a kayak. Like, what are you even talking about? Okay, it's, 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 Calvira Jr. His body was inside a closet, and the authorities say

• 23:15Annie Elise?

  he had been shot in the face. 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 Paige 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, 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.

• 24:00Annie Elise?

  Police ended up searching Faith, and when they did, they found that she had several severe burn marks on her body. She also had Tomas'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 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.

• 24:44Annie Elise?

  We will watch it, but again, like, to shoot your husband, or common law husband, in the face, 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, let me just get into it, because I'm going to probably like talk in 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

• 25:29Annie Elise?

  all of a sudden, doused her in gasoline. And then after that, they set her on fire. Which, this is insane, because this guy is literally still unknown, and for no apparent reason, he just took her by surprise, dumped gasoline on her, and then he used his cigarette to start the fire. It's insane.

• 25:47Speaker 06

  Why could you do this to my baby? You didn't have to do this to her. We were told. That she was leaving a grocery store and an unidentified male came up to her and doused gasoline on her and lit a cigarette and flicked it on her.

• 26:04Annie Elise?

  The woman was only 20 years 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. 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 going to 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,

• 26:47Annie Elise?

  which she of course had to celebrate 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. 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." Which, yeah, me too. I mean, what is wrong with people? You have to be insane to just see a woman, a random woman,

• 27:31Annie Elise?

  walking down the street and think to yourself, "Hey, I'm going to set this woman on fire." Like, ugh, god, like, and we're going to talk about New York in just a second here. Now, in this case, thankfully, Ashanti was able to survive. But still, her life is of course changed forever. She has third degree burns all over her body. It's going to 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 and a lot of you have been asking me to- Cover this and it's 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.

• 28:16Annie Elise?

  And I never felt unsafe. 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 ballgame. 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. 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.

• 28:59Annie Elise?

  It was December 22nd and this woman who the police have not named yet or released all the information about her yet. Was sleeping in a train car at the Coney Island Stillwell Avenue Station. As she was sleeping, Sebastian Zapata 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. 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?

• 29:39Annie Elise?

  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, 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. And there were 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.

• 30:21Annie Elise?

  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 on to the pole, stuck in pain, burning. It is really very difficult to watch, even with everything blurred out. So I just want to warn you. I would not go Googling for these videos. 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,

• 31:02Annie Elise?

  a woman was literally burning to death. But take a listen.

• 31:07Speaker 07

  Oh, sorry to his family. This is a person right here. Oh,

• 31:14Speaker 07

  oh, bro.

• 31:19Speaker 07

  Joe.

• 31:23Speaker 07

  Oh, no. It was a brutal act. And, you know, inhumane. He deserves whatever he's gonna get.

• 31:32Annie Elise?

  Sebastian is from Guatemala and he was in the US illegally. According to documents, he was deported back in 2018, but then he re-entered the US 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.

• 32:12Annie Elise?

  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 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 and he told the police that he drinks a lot of alcohol, that he

• 32:57Annie Elise?

  didn't even know what happened, that like he was confused by everything, you know, 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. I don't even know if that's the lyrics, but you know, you guys know, I can't sing. So he had a court appearance scheduled for last Friday, but he ended up waiving his appearance and he ended up being indicted on the murder and the arson charges. So now he is scheduled to be arraigned on January 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 whole thing, and I think the reason why so many people wanted coverage on this and are talking about it and why it's gone viral is because it truly

• 33:40Annie Elise?

  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. 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 you agree, is 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, 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

• 34:22Annie Elise?

  pushing to bring additional federal charges for Sebastian, even though those probably won't add any time to his 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, 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 gonna 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. 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

• 35:07Annie Elise?

  is called 10 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. Alright 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. 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, or

• 35:48Annie Elise?

  you can get access on Patreon, patreon.com/AnnieElise. 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. 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. Alright guys, thank you again. I will 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. Alright, thanks guys. Bye.

• 36:36Speaker 07

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