Debrina Kawam from Toms River, New Jersey, id as woman fatally set on fire on NYC Subway F train at the hands of Guatemala illegal immigrant, Sebastian Zapeta-Calil.
The woman who was fatally set on fire in a NYC subway earlier this month has been identified as 57-year-old woman, Debrina Kawam from Toms River, New Jersey, police said Tuesday. Authorities described the victim as being homeless of no fixed address.
Kawam was asleep on a stationary F train at the Stillwell Avenue station on Sunday, Dec. 22 in Brooklyn just before 7:30 a.m. when a man, since identified as a Guatemala illegal immigrant set her on fire before fleeing the scene, according to the New York Police Department.
The suspect allegedly ‘approached and lit the victim on fire’ with a lighter, leading to the woman being engulfed in flames, with the suspect at one point even fanning the flames as he sat on a bench and ‘calmly’ watched the woman burned to death, police said.
Man, 45, shoved in front of NYC train survives, 23 year old perp arrested
Debrina Kawam when she graduated in 1985 from a NJ High School. Went go work for Merck in marketing in 92. https://t.co/00GJK6snkW pic.twitter.com/JC7FugBdA2
— Deplorable Greenie – We’re the captain now Ⓜ️ (@TRobMacho) December 31, 2024
🚨 #BREAKING : A woman named Debrina Kawam from Toms River, New Jersey, was fatally set on fire on a New York City subway train by Sebastian Zapeta, who has been charged with murder and arson
her name was Debrina Kawam 🙏🏼
— 🌸 DigiGal (@DigitalGal_) December 31, 2024
Victim had ‘brief stint’ in the NYC’s shelter system
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.
The city medical examiner’s office identified Kawam through a fingerprint analysis, spokesperson Julie Bolcer said. Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez last week said investigators were using ‘advanced fingerprinting efforts’ and DNA evidence to investigate her identity because her body was so badly burned.
Mayor Eric Adams during a Tuesday briefing said that Kawam had a ‘brief stint’ in the ‘city’s shelter system.’
‘People should not be living in our subway system. They should be in a place of care,’ Adams said. ‘And no matter where she lived, that should not have happened.’
Police have been in communication with Kawam’s next of kin, the mayor added.
Authorities have said they do not believe she and Zapeta knew each other before the incident.
Suspect had previously been deported before sneaking back into the US as he now is indicted on murder
A vigil was held for the victim on Thursday. Authorities declined to share further details about the woman, including how she came to be riding the F train and what led to her being targeted.
Previous reports cited Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, 33, saying he was ‘drunk’ when he preyed on the victim along with regularly smoking synthetic drug, K2. The suspect according to cops, ‘was so boozed up,’ he had no memory of what had happened.
The wanted man was arrested hours after fleeing the scene, after at one point responding police unwittingly telling the man to leave the scene (as he sat and gazed as his victim literally burn to death) after NY subway travelers recognised the wanted man in midtown Manhattan after police sharing photos of the suspect.
Zapeta-Calil was indicted on four counts of murder and one count of arson on Friday, according to prosecutors. A grand jury indictment was announced in court on one count of first-degree murder, three counts of second-degree murder and one count of first-degree arson, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office.
The first-degree murder charge carries the possibility of life without parole. Zapeta-Calil appeared in Brooklyn court Tuesday and was remanded back into custody.
The Guatemalan citizen is in the U.S. unlawfully and was previously deported, only to ‘sneak’ back into the U.S in 2018 according to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials.
