Overview

• Authorities identified the victims as Zemfira Mukhtarov, 12, of Brooklyn, and Ebba Morina, 13, of Manhattan, found on the roof of a Brooklyn-bound J train at Marcy Avenue around 3:10 a.m. on Oct. 4.
• Police said both suffered fatal head injuries and were pronounced dead at the scene after the train crossed the Williamsburg Bridge into the station.
• Investigators and family accounts indicate the girls had connected on social media, snuck out late Friday, and were part of a larger group of about 15 teens seen inside the train before the deaths.
• Family members are publicly mourning and fundraising for funeral costs as a wake for Morina drew a large turnout, and Mukhtarov’s mother said she learned of the incident when her younger daughter recognized items on TV news.
• Officials report five subway-surfing deaths this year; the MTA continues its 'Ride Inside, Stay Alive' campaign and the NYPD says drones have helped intercept more than 130 children riding outside trains in 2025.