BREAKING: Identity of the woman who burned to death inside a subway train revealed

1 week ago 19

The man accused of lighting her on fire, 33-year-old Guatemalan migrant Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, has been charged with second-degree murder and arson

Published Dec 31, 2024 • Last updated 0 minutes ago • 1 minute read

The identity of a woman who was set on fire and burned to death in a New York City Subway train was released Tuesday morning.

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In an email to the National Post, the New York Police Department IDed the victim as 57-year-old Debrina Kawam of Toms River, N.J.

Police and medical examiners had been using fingerprints and advanced DNA techniques, while also retracing her steps, in an effort to identify her.

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The man accused of lighting her on fire, 33-year-old Guatemalan migrant Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, has been charged with second-degree murder and arson.

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The disturbing incident, recorded on a train camera, occurred on Dec. 22 as the subway car pulled into a station.

A person is seeking walking up to Kawam, who lay motionless, and using a lighter to set her ablaze.

The first officers who arrived on the scene found her fully engulfed in flames. She was extinguished, but pronounced dead at the scene.

Footage showed the suspect remaining at the scene after igniting Kawam, even sitting on a nearby bench. Three teenagers later recognized the individual from an image shared by authorities and Zapeta-Calil was arrested a short time later.

He was indicted on state charges last week.

Authorities say he claimed during questioning he wasn’t aware of what had happened but identified himself in photos and surveillance video showing the fire being lit.

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