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2024-12-31 22:18:37 UTC
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Permalinkthis 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.
https://abcnews.go.com/US/woman-set-fire-new-york-city-subway-
idd/story?id=117228856