Woman set on fire on New York City subway identified by police

(NEW YORK) — 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 identified as 61-year-old Debrina Kawam of Toms River, New Jersey, according to the New York Police Department.

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 on fire allegedly by a 33-year-old Guatemalan citizen who entered the U.S. illegally, according to police.

The suspect, Sebastian Zapeta, has been charged with first-degree and second-degree murder and first-degree arson, according to police. 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.” She was pronounced dead at the scene.

Images of the suspect were captured on officers’ body cameras, as that person stayed on the scene after the incident, sitting on a nearby bench.

Those images were released as police requested the public’s assistance in identifying the man, who fled the train.

Three high school students recognized him and contacted police.

The suspect 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 U.S. 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.

“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 statistic 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.

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