Police in New York City have named the woman who was set on fire and burned to death on a subway train in Brooklyn. Authorities on Tuesday identified Debrina Kawam, 57, of New Jersey as the victim of the seemingly random 22 December attack that burned her body beyond recognition. Sebastian Zapeta, 33, is accused of starting the blaze with a lighter while Ms Kawam was asleep. He allegedly fanned the flames with a shirt and then watched the fire grow from a bench outside the subway car.
Last week, a grand jury indicted Mr Zapeta, who claims to have no memory of the incident, on four counts of murder and one count of arson.
Julie Bolcer, a spokesperson for New York City’s Office of Chief Medical Examiner, said the death was ruled a homicide and caused by “thermal and inhalational injuries”. She made the identification public on Tuesday.
“It’s a priority for me, for my office, for the police department to identify this woman, so we can notify her family,” Mr Gonzalez said.
Police say that Ms Kawam was motionless, apparently asleep, on a stationary subway train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue Station in Brooklyn early on 22 December when Mr Zapeta allegedly approached her with a lighter.
The pair never interacted, and police believe they did not know each other.
Jessica Tisch, New York police commissioner, said that the smell of smoke drew police officers and Metropolitian Transit Authority personnel to the fire where they extinguished the flames.
“Unbeknownst to the officers who responded, the suspect had stayed on the scene and was seated on a bench on the platform just outside the train car,” Ms Tisch said.
Authorities declared Ms Kawam dead at the scene.
Ms Tisch described the incident as “one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit against another human being”.
In a preliminary hearing on Tuesday, prosecutor Ari Rottenberg said Mr Zapeta told investigators that he had been drinking and did not remember the incident, but did identify himself in photos and surveillance video showing the fire being lit.
He is due back in court on 7 January, prosecutors said.
Despite a decline in crime rates on New York City’s subway, the incident is one of a string of attacks that has raised concerns for riders on the US’s largest mass transit system.
The subway safety issue arose again Tuesday afternoon when someone was pushed onto the tracks in Manhattan’s Chelsea neighbourhood, according to New York City police. The unidentified male victim was hospitalised with a head injury, authorities said. An image of the suspect was captured on camera, but he was still at large late Tuesday afternoon.
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