NEW YORK — New York Police announced Tuesday they’ve identified the woman who died on Dec. 22 after being set on fire while inside a New York subway train as a 61-year-old from New Jersey.
The woman, Debrina Kawam, had a Toms River, New Jersey, address, according to NYPD.
Authorities previously said they were using forensics and video surveillance to identify the victim, who burned to death on a subway car in Brooklyn. The man accused of lighting her on fire, Sebastian Zapeta, 33, was taken into custody hours after police disseminated images of a suspect.
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]He’s since been indicted on murder and arson charges. Zapeta remains jailed. Federal immigration officials say the 33-year-old is from Guatemala and entered the U.S. illegally.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday that Kawam had a “brief stint in our homeless shelter system” and that authorities had been in contact with her next of kin. He did not say when Kawam was in the homeless system.
“Hearts go out to the family, a horrific incident to have to live through,” Adams said at an unrelated press briefing. “It impacts on how New Yorkers feel. 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. No matter where she lived that should not have happened.”
Zapeta is accused by prosecutors of lighting Kawam on fire on a stopped F train at Brooklyn’s Coney Island station as she appeared to be sleeping. He then fanned the flames with a shirt, engulfing her in the blaze, before sitting on a platform bench and watching as she burned, prosecutors said.
Kawam was pronounced dead at the scene.
“This was a malicious deed. A sleeping, vulnerable woman on our subway system,” Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said after his indictment was announced.
Zapeta has yet to enter a plea in the case. His indictment is expected to be unsealed on Jan. 7. He was not present at a Dec. 27 hearing and his attorney declined to comment afterward. When questioned by police, prosecutors say Zapeta claimed not to know what had happened, noting that he consumes alcohol. He did identify himself in photos and surveillance video showing the fire being lit, according to prosecutors.
He was arrested hours after the Kawam’s death after police received a tip from a group of high school students who recognized images of the suspect circulated by police.
