Woman Set On Fire On NYC Subway Identified: NYPD

NEW YORK CITY — A 57-year-old woman who was set on fire and burned to death inside a New York City subway car has been identified, police announced Tuesday.

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

Zapeta-Calil was taken into custody by police following the incident. He has since been charged with first and second degree murder as well as 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.

Deadly Incident Inside Brooklyn Subway Car

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

The suspect walked up to the female victim, 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 the victim standing inside the subway car, fully engulfed in flames.

The victim was pronounced dead at the scene, Patch previously reported.

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

The suspect 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.

The events of the killing were captured on a train camera.