Police in New York identify a woman who burned to death on a subway train

NEW YORK (AP) – New York police announced Tuesday they have identified the 61-year-old New Jersey woman who died Dec. 22 after being set on fire while inside a New York City subway train.

The woman, Debrina Kawam, had an address in Toms River, New Jersey, according to the NYPD.

Authorities previously said they used forensics and video surveillance to identify the victim who burned to death on a Brooklyn subway car. The man accused of setting her on fire, Sebastian Zapeta, 33, was taken into custody hours after police released photos of a suspect.

He is since been prosecuted charged with murder and arson. Zapeta remains imprisoned. Federal immigration officials say the 33-year-old is from Guatemala and entered the United States illegally.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday that Kawam had a “short stint in our homeless system” and that authorities had been in contact with her relatives. He did not say when Kawam was in the homeless system.

“Hearts go out to the family, a terrible event to have to go through,” Adams said at an unrelated press briefing. “It affects how New Yorkers feel. But it really reinforces what I’ve been saying: People shouldn’t be living on our subway system, they should be in a nursing home. No matter where she lived, it shouldn’t have happened.”

Zapeta is accused by prosecutors of setting Kawam on fire on a stopped F train at Brooklyn’s Coney Island station when she appeared to be sleeping. He then fanned the flames with a shirt and engulfed her in the fire before sitting on a platform bench and watching as she burned, prosecutors said.

Kawam was pronounced dead at the scene.

“This was a malicious act. A sleeping, vulnerable woman on our subway system,” Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said after his indictment was announced.

Zapeta has not yet entered a plea in the case. His case is expected to be closed on January 7. He was not present at a hearing on December 27 and his lawyer declined to comment afterwards. When questioned by police, prosecutors say Zapeta claimed not to know what had happened and noted that he was consuming alcohol. He identified himself in photos and surveillance videos showing the fire lit, according to prosecutors.

He was arrested hours after Kawam’s death after police received a tip from a group of high school students who recognized photos of the suspect that police had circulated.