FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, January 7, 2025
Man Arraigned for Fatally Torching Woman Sleeping Inside Subway Car
Used Shirt to Fan Flames; Caught on Video Surveillance
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez today announced that a homeless man has been arraigned on an indictment in which he is charged with first-degree murder and related counts for allegedly setting a woman, identified as Debrina Kawam, on fire as she slept inside a subway car in Coney Island, Brooklyn, then fanning the flames with a shirt and watching her die.
District Attorney Gonzalez said, “It is difficult to fathom what could lead someone to commit the atrocious and horrific murder with which this defendant is charged. My office swiftly obtained an indictment, and we are determined to exact the most severe punishment for this heinous and inhumane act. Ms. Kawam and her loved ones deserve a measure of justice and New Yorkers deserve to feel safe in the subways.”
The District Attorney identified the defendant as Sebastian Zapeta, 33, who resided in an East New York shelter. The defendant was arraigned today before Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun on an indictment in which he is charged with first-degree murder, three counts of second-degree murder and first-degree arson. The defendant was held without bail and ordered to return to court on March 12, 2025. He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The District Attorney said that, according to the investigation, on December 22, 2024, at about 7:25 a.m., the victim was sleeping inside an F train that had reached its terminus at the Stillwell Avenue Station in Coney Island. Video surveillance showed the defendant, who rode the same car as the victim from Queens, use what appears to be a lighter to set fire to fabric that covered the sleeping woman.
The evidence further shows the defendant first watched from inside the car as the fire grew then used what looks like a shirt to fan it until the victim became engulfed in flames. He was then seen watching the blaze from a bench on the platform before walking away.
Police quickly identified the defendant and distributed his image to the media. Police received a tip that he was aboard an F train near the Herald Square-34th Street Station, and he was apprehended a little before 4 p.m. the same day.
The victim was declared dead at the scene and the medical examiner determined the cause of death to be a combination of heat burns and smoke inhalation. She was burned beyond recognition and was identified as Ms. Kawam, originally of Toms River, New Jersey, nine days after the incident.
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Assistant District Attorney Matthew Perry, of the District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau, under the supervision of Assistant District Attorney Leila Rosini, Homicide Bureau Chief.
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An indictment is an accusatory instrument and not proof of a defendant’s guilt.