Toms River Woman Was Subway Fire Victim: NYPD

NEW YORK, NY — A woman who was set on fire and burned to death in a New York City subway car was from Toms River, New York City police said Tuesday.

Debrina Kawam, 57, of Toms River, was killed after Sebastian Zapeta-Calil lit her on fire inside an F train subway car on Dec. 22, police said.

Zapeta-Calil was arrested after the incident and has been charged with first- and second-degree murder and arson, Patch previously reported.

The 33-year-old Guatemalan migrant was caught at the border in Arizona on June 1, 2018, and was deported but re-entered the country illegally sometime within the past six years, a US Immigration and Customs Enforcement spokesperson told CNN. The agency will lodge a detainer on Zapeta-Calil while he is held in New York City.

The incident happened as a train pulled into the Stillwell Avenue station in Brooklyn on Dec. 22, police said.

Authorities say Zapeta-Calil walked up to Kawam, who was motionless and may have been asleep, and used a lighter to set her clothes on fire. Officers on the station’s upper level smelled smoke and found Kawam standing inside the subway car, fully engulfed in flames. She was pronounced dead at the scene, Patch previously reported.

The events were captured on a train camera, authorities said.

New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch described the incident as “one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit against another human being.”

Authorities say Zapeta-Calil stayed at the scene after lighting the fire, sitting on a nearby bench and in doing so allowing police body cameras to capture his image, which was shared widely, according to authorities, who said three teens called 911 to say they had seen the man at the subway station at Jay and York streets.

Officers responded, saw the man on a moving train, stopped the train and arrested the man, who had a lighter in his pocket, police said.

Initial reports said she was 61 but authorities later said she was 57.