NYPD Identifies Woman Burned to Death on Subway as 57-Year-Old From New Jersey

New York Police officers clear a train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue Terminal in the Brooklyn borough of New York on May 5, 2020. Frank Franklin II/AP Photo

The New York Police Department (NYPD) on New Year’s Eve identified the woman who was killed after being set on fire on a stopped New York City subway train earlier this month.

Police identified her as 57-year-old Debrina Kawam, whose last known address was in Toms River, New Jersey, police confirmed in an email to The Epoch Times.

NYPD did not respond to additional questions about how the woman was identified or whether or not reports she was homeless were accurate. No additional information on Kawam was available at the time of publication.

Sebastian Zapeta, 33, is accused by prosecutors of lighting the woman on fire on a stopped F train at Brooklyn’s Coney Island station on Dec.. 22. He allegedly then fanned the flames with a shirt, causing her to become engulfed in the blaze, before sitting on a platform bench and watching as she burned.

Zapeta is charged with multiple counts of murder as well as an arson charge, with the top charge carrying a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.

If convicted under federal arson laws for an attack resulting in death, Zapeta could face a sentence of 25 years to life. Federal arson charges for attacks on property used in interstate commerce resulting in injury carry a maximum sentence of 40 years.

Meanwhile, a conviction under New York state’s first-degree murder statute could lead to life in prison without parole, a punishment already more severe than what federal arson laws can provide.

Police said Zapeta “calmly” approached the woman who was sitting motionless in the subway car and ignited her clothing using a lighter. The victim’s clothing “became engulfed in a matter of seconds,” according to NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch.

Previous reporting has stated the victim was sleeping on the train.

“That’s going to be part of the investigation,” NYPD Chief of Transit Joseph Gulotta said. “She’s definitely there, she’s motionless, so to say if she’s asleep ... we’re not 100 percent sure, but it appears that she’s motionless.”

Officers stationed at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station responded after smelling smoke and discovered the victim “standing inside the train car fully engulfed in flames,” said Tisch. Despite efforts to extinguish the fire, the woman was pronounced dead at the scene.

Disturbing video circulating on social media shows Zapeta sitting on a bench as the fire raged inside the subway car. He later left the scene but the police caught him up at the 34th Street-Herald Square station in Manhattan after a group of teenagers spotted him and called 911.

Zapeta, a Guatemala national who was deported in 2018 and illegally reentered the United States, is currently being held at Rikers Island.

Bill Pan and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

NYPD initially said the victim was 61 years old, which was referenced in an earlier version of this article. NYPD later corrected this in an email saying she was 57 years old.