The Keyes Company entered the Sarasota market with the affiliation of Signature Premier Properties Sarasota and Florida SunCoast Real Estate. With these additions, the Miami-based brokerage will operate its first Sarasota office at 1433 Main St. “We are thrilled to welcome these two best-in-class real estate firms to the Keyes family,” President Christina Pappas said in a press release. “Signature Premier Properties Sarasota and Florida SunCoast Real Estate enable us to make an impactful debut in a pivotal market that continues to experience incredible growth and demand. Both firms share our commitment to personal, hands-on service and the belief that connection and community is at the heart of real estate.” Signature Premier is an affiliate of New York-based Signature Premier Properties, a Long Island brokerage co-owned by Peter Morris and Kathleen Viard. The Sarasota office has 60 agents, including numerous New York transplants with relationships in both markets. Signature’s Kathy Curd will serve as sales manager of the new Keyes Sarasota office. “Keyes is the perfect partner to allow us to build upon our momentum since launching the Sarasota brokerage a few years ago,” Viard said. “The Sarasota market continues to see the New York relocation activity that started during the pandemic. Our New York roots and relationships help our agents produce optimal results for their clients.” Founded in 2016, Florida SunCoast Real Estate is co-owned by Barry and Sherry Grooms, who have a combined 50 years of industry experience. Barry Grooms is a past President of Florida Realtors®, while Sherry Grooms has held numerous industry leadership positions, including president of the Manatee Association of Realtors® and network president of the Women’s Council of Realtors®. With Florida SunCoast’s affiliation, Barry Grooms will become Keyes’ Southwest Florida regional manager. In this capacity, he will help Keyes find additional merger opportunities; the brokerage is currently in active negotiations with other Southwest Florida firms. “Like Keyes, we are a family-owned brokerage that puts people first,” Grooms said. “We were attracted to Keyes due to its unmatched reputation earned over nearly a century of service, market-leading technology, support for agents and community impact.”
NEW YORK (AP) — The man accused of burning a woman to death inside a New York City subway train used a shirt to fan the flames, causing her to become engulfed in fire, a prosecutor said Tuesday at his arraignment on murder charges that could put him in prison for life. Sebastian Zapeta, 33, who federal immigration officials said is a Guatemalan citizen who entered the U.S. illegally, was not required to enter a plea and did not speak at the hearing in Brooklyn criminal court. Zapeta, wearing a white jumpsuit over a weathered black hooded sweatshirt, will remain jailed and is due back in court on Friday. His lawyer did not ask for bail. Zapeta is charged with two counts of murder, accusing him of intentionally killing the woman and killing her while committing arson. He is also charged with one count of arson. The top charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole. Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez called the attack a “gruesome and senseless act of violence” and said it would be “met with the most serious consequences.” The apparently random attack occurred Sunday morning on an F train that was stopped at the Coney Island station. Police said Tuesday the victim's identification is still pending. Authorities say Zapeta approached the woman, who may have been sleeping in the train, and set her clothing on fire with a lighter. Zapeta then fanned the flames with a shirt, engulfing her in fire, Assistant District Attorney Ari Rottenberg said in court Tuesday. Zapeta then sat on a bench on the subway platform and watched, police said. According to Rottenberg, Zapeta told detectives that he didn’t know what happened but identified himself in images of the attack. Zapeta's lawyer, Ed Friedman, did not speak to reporters after the arraignment. Video on social media appears to show some people looking on from the platform and at least one police officer walking by while the woman is on fire inside the train. NYPD Transit Chief Joseph Gulotta said Sunday that several officers responded to the fire and one stayed to keep the crime scene “the way it’s supposed to be" while the others went to get fire extinguishers and transit workers. “Officers who were on patrol on an upper level of that station smelled and saw smoke and went to investigate. What they saw was a person standing inside the train car fully engulfed in flames,” Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. They eventually put the fire out, but “unfortunately, it was too late,” Tisch said, and the woman was pronounced dead at the scene. Zapeta was taken into custody Sunday afternoon while riding a train on the same subway line after teenagers recognized him from images circulated by the police. A Brooklyn address for Zapeta released by police matches a shelter that provides housing and substance abuse support. The shelter did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Federal immigration officials said Zapeta was deported in 2018 but later reentered the U.S. illegally. The crime deepened a growing sense of unease among some New Yorkers about the safety of the subway system, amplified by graphic video of the attack that ricocheted across social media. Overall, crime is down in the transit system compared to last year. Major felonies declined 6% between January and November compared to the same time period last year, according to data from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. But murders are up, with nine killings this year through November compared to five during the same period last year. Earlier this month, a Manhattan jury acquitted former Marine Daniel Penny in the chokehold death last year of an agitated subway rider. The case became a flashpoint in debates over safety, homelessness and mental illness on the system. Policing the subway is difficult, given the vast network of trains moving between 472 stations. Each stop contains multiple entry points and, in many stations, multiple floors and platforms.
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