Woman set on fire on New York City subway identified by police
A woman who died after being set on fire on a New York City subway train this month has been identified, according to police.
The woman was named as Debrina Kawam, 57, of Toms River, New Jersey, the New York Police Department said.
Kawam was sleeping on a stationary F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station in Brooklyn on the morning of Dec. 22 when she was set ablaze allegedly by an undocumented 33-year-old Guatemalan citizen, according to police.
The suspect, Sebastian Zapeta, has been charged with first-degree and second-degree murder and first-degree arson. He has yet to enter a plea.
"The depravity of this horrific crime is beyond comprehension, and my office is committed to bringing the perpetrator to justice," Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a statement released shortly after the homicide occurred. "This gruesome and senseless act of violence against a vulnerable woman will be met with the most serious consequences."
The suspect allegedly "approached and lit the victim on fire" with a lighter, police said.
Police officers in the area at the time smelled smoke and went to the train to investigate, where they found the woman standing inside the car "fully engulfed in flames," the NYPD said. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Images of the suspect were captured on officers' body cameras as he stayed on the scene after the incident, sitting on a nearby bench, according to police.
Those images were released as police requested the public's assistance in identifying the man.
Three high school students recognized the suspect and contacted police.
Zapeta was taken into custody in a subway car at Herald Square within hours of the incident, according to police. When he was captured, the suspect had a lighter in his pocket.
A motive for the crime remains under investigation.
Zapeta was initially removed from the U.S. back to Guatemala in June 2018 after U.S. Border Patrol encountered him in Sonoita, Arizona, a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson said. He unlawfully reentered the United States at an unknown time and location, the spokesperson said.
ICE's Enforcement and Removal Operations will lodge an immigration detainer with the NYPD location where Zapeta is being held, an agency spokesperson said.
During a news conference on Tuesday, New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Kawam briefly stayed in a city homeless shelter. He said authorities have been in contact with her next of kin, but he released no additional information about her.
The NYPD previously misstated her age as 61.
"Our hearts go out to the family," Adams said, calling the homicide a "horrific incident to have to live through."
He said such high-profile "random acts of violence" have overshadowed the success police have achieved in bringing crime down in the subway system. NYPD crime statistics show that as of Sunday, overall crime in the subway system is down 5.4% compared to last year.
"It was just a bad incident and it impacts on how New Yorkers feel," said Adams. "But it really reinforces what I've been saying: People should not be living on our subway system. They should be in a place of care. And no matter where she lived, that should not have happened.
