A 61-year-old New Jersey woman has been identified as the woman who was set on fire in a subway car in New York City.
Debrina Kawam, from Toms River, New Jersey, was sleeping inside a train car at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station in Brooklyn on December 22 when the horrific incident occurred.
Earlier, authorities said they were using forensics and video surveillance to identify the victim. They named him on Tuesday.
Sebastian Zapeta is facing murder charges in connection with the horrific attack, with a criminal complaint alleging that the 33-year-old man used a shirt to start a fire after setting Kawam on fire.
Sebastian Zapeta has been charged with the arson of a woman, who was identified by police on Tuesday as Debrina Kawam of New Jersey (AP).
After lighting the fire, Zapeta then sat on a bench on the platform and watched as it burned, prosecutors said.
Kawam was pronounced dead at the scene.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday that Kawam “had a short stay in our homeless shelter system” and that authorities had been in contact with his relative. He did not say that Kawam was in the homeless program.
“Hearts go out to the family, it’s a terrible thing to deal with,” Adams said at an unrelated press conference. “It affects the way New Yorkers feel. But it really emphasizes what I was saying: People shouldn’t be living in our subway, they should be in a place of care. No matter where you live that shouldn’t have happened.”
Police arrested Zapeta as he boarded a train on the same route later that day, after three high school kids called 911 — spotting him in a photo released by authorities.
The suspect is charged with murder and other charges related to the shocking incident (FNTV)
Zapeta told investigators that he had been drinking and did not know what happened. However, he revealed himself in photos and surveillance video showing the fire burning.
Zapeta is charged with murder, three counts of murder and one count of vandalism. Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said at a press conference that the full indictment against Zapeta will remain sealed until he appears in court on the new charges on January 7.
Gonzalez added that the federal charges were brought to ensure that a “greater penalty” could be demanded for such a “heinous” crime.
Federal Immigration officials said the Guatemalan citizen was deported in 2018 but returned to the US illegally sometime after that.
On Friday, Zapeta waived his right to appear in court and will remain in custody at New York’s Rikers Island complex before appearing in court next month.
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