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In December 2024, a woman was brutally set on fire in a New York City subway. She has now been identified as 57-year-old Toms River, New Jersey, resident Debrina Kawam. As the NYPD and Mayor Eric Adams spoke to the press, they explained more details about the terrifying crime.
Read on to learn more about Kawam and the case below.
Who Was Debrina Kawam?
Kawam was a 57-year-old woman from Toms River, New Jersey. The initial report from the NYPD claimed that she was 61, but this has since been corrected. Mayor Adams also pointed out that Kawam had a “brief stint” in New York’s homeless shelter system.
“Our hearts go out to the family,” Adams said during a news press conference on December 31, 2024. “A horrific incident to have to live through and just watching that tape, just really — I couldn’t even watch it all the way through. It was just a bad incident, and it impacts on how New Yorkers feel.”
🚨#Brooklyn : Authorities have identified the victim in the horrifying F train attack as Debrina Kawam, 61, of Toms River, New Jersey. Kawam was sleeping on a stationary train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station when Sebastian Zapeta, 33, allegedly set her on fire and… pic.twitter.com/rXRuiupQQf
— Citizen NYC (@CitizenAppNYC) December 31, 2024
What Happened to Debrina Kawam on a Subway?
On December 22, 2024, Kawam was asleep on an idle F subway train in Brooklyn. A man was seen near her in the train car at around 7:30 a.m. that morning, and he set her on fire. He fled the scene.
The suspect in the case was identified as 33-year-old Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, who was arrested that same day. Subway riders called 911 when they noticed Zapeta-Calil hours after the incident when he was seen on police body cam footage, NBC News reported. The suspect was arrested and indicted on four counts of murder and one count of arson.
Per the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, Zapeta-Calil was charged on one count of first-degree murder, three counts of second-degree murder and one count of first-degree arson. If convicted, the first-degree murder charge carries a life sentence in prison, according to NBC.
How Many Subway Murders Have Happened in 2024?
There have been at least 10 murders on New York City subways in 2024, according to the New York Post. Police said that this brought a 25-year high that was initially set in 2022. Throughout 2024 alone, there have been beatings, slashings, intentional burnings and other brutal murders in the city’s train system.
How Many Subway Killings Have Happened in NYC’s History?
According to data shown by VitalCityNYC.org, there has been at least one killing on the New York subways since 1997. Since that year, there have been more than 80 subway murders.
