Victim Identified: Video Shows Suspect Watching Woman Burn To Death In F Train Car After He Set Her On Fire

[Sugar Cookie]

The suspect who allegedly lit a sleeping passenger on fire inside a Coney Island F train sat on a bench and watched her burn to death in a shockingly brutal killing just three days before Christmas.

In a video obtained by The Post, the man calmly looks on as flames engulf the unidentified woman who stood inside the door of the subway car as the train idled at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station at around 7:30 a.m. on Sunday.

A transit cop walked by the open door, and seemed to pull out his radio and say something as his continued down the platform.

After the cop walked past, the suspect — who police say stands about 5-foot, 6-inches tall, weighs around 150 pounds and is about 25 to 30 years-old — got up as if to walk away before the clip cut off.

Cops extinguished the fire and EMS declared her dead on the scene.

Horrific video shows suspect watching woman burn to death in F train car after he allegedly set her on fire

Cops have released pictures of the man they say lit a sleeping woman on fire inside an F train in Coney Island early Sunday morning, killing her in brutal fashion just three days before Christmas.

nypost.com

She was found with liquor bottles surrounding her, though it was not immediately clear if they played any part in the fire, sources said.

Investigators believe that the woman was sleeping when a man sitting across from her got up, walked by her and threw a match on her, engulfing her in fire, sources said.

Sleeping subway rider burned alive on F train after crazed attacker tosses lit match on her: police sources

A woman died Sunday morning after police found her on engulfed in flames on an F train in Coney Island, police said.

nypost.com

 

[cubby]

Simply throwing a match on somebody will not engulf them in flames, there had to be an accelerant involved in some way, even if it was the liquor from the bottles all around her.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

Published Dec. 22, 2024, 4:32 p.m. ET

Authorities have arrested the man they say lit a sleeping woman on fire inside a Coney Island F train on Sunday morning, The Post has learned.

Police sources say a civilian identified the suspected killer as he rode on a train at 34th Street in Manhattan.

The witness waved down the cops, who later picked the suspect up and detained him.

He has not been charged with a crime yet, sources added.

Cops briefly talked to him, but told him to clear the area in the immediate aftermath of the attack, a video from the scene showed.

Man suspected of setting sleeping NYC subway rider on fire, watching her burn to death arrested

Authorities have arrested the man they say lit a sleeping woman on fire inside a Coney Island F train on Sunday morning, The Post has learned. Police sources say a civilian identified the suspected…

nypost.com

 

[Aedia]

That is cold. What a horrifying death!

Simply throwing a match on somebody will not engulf them in flames, there had to be an accelerant involved in some way, even if it was the liquor from the bottles all around her.

Yeah, I had the same thought. Maybe he brought something himself? Like he went out wanting to do this?
Or just saw the opportunity and used the liquor.
But it wasn't just a match.

 

[Symmachus]

Horrific way for a person to die.

And it's bad enough that the man did that to a woman, for no clear reason; but a sleeping woman who had no chance to defend herself? The level of evil it takes to even seriously consider doing that to someone else can't be verbalized.

Also, he's a "migrant" from Guatemala, meaning that he may not even be in the USA legally.

I feel very sad for the woman who died in this situation.

 

[Metalfan]

Like anyone does not notice the ramping up of violence and absurdity in the world all around!

 

[Sugar Cookie]

I fucking knew it but you know the cunt club here would have lost their mind if I speculated that this was an illegal.

The Guatemalan migrant accused of setting a sleeping F train passenger on fire and then watching as she burned to death sneaked into the country illegally after being deported — and then stayed in the New York City shelter system, multiple sources confirm to The Post.

He first entered the US at the Arizona border in 2018, when he was nabbed and deported just days later for crossing illegally, multiple sources told The Post.

He then re-entered the US at a subsequent unknown date, sneaking past US authorities. It’s unknown how long he has been in New York.

However, law enforcement sources said he stayed in multiple taxpayer-funded migrant shelters in the city.

Continue reading

Exclusive | Fiend accused of burning woman to death on NYC subway is illegal migrant from Guatemala who sneaked into US after he was deported

The Guatemalan migrant accused of setting a sleeping F train passenger on fire and then watching as she burned to death sneaked into the country illegally after being deported — and then stay…

nypost.com

 

[CatoTheYoungest]

I just love the hustle and bustle of the diverse modern city. It would be so boring to live in a functioning, high-trust society…don’t ya think?

 

[Sugar Cookie]

 

[BuffettGirl]

I read something about this yesterday that ended with the sentence "He also had a lighter in his possession at the time of arrest" and thought to myself, according to this, me, sitting in Portland, Oregon is JUST as guilty as this guy is, I have THREE lighters on me at this very moment...

Perhaps if we dialed down the hysteria about everything, the world wouldn't be so on edge over EVERYTHING?!?

 

[Ella Mayo]

Ban assault immigrants.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

Trump was right they are not sending us the best - we the tax payers were paying for him to drink and be a bum.

Sebastian Zapeta, a 33-year-old Guatemalan migrant living in a Brooklyn men’s shelter, was dressed in a white Tyvek suit with a black hoodie poking out from underneath as he stood in Brooklyn Criminal Court Tuesday.

Judge Jung Park ordered him held without bail on charges of first- and second-degree murder and arson.

After his arrest, Zapeta told police he ““drinks a lot of liquor” and “doesn’t know what happened,” Assistant District Attorney Ari Rottenberg said Tuesday.

Zapeta approached the victim — who authorities still haven’t been able to identify — as she slept in an F train stopped at the end of the line at Coney Island-Stillwell Ave. station at about 7:30 a.m. Sunday, according to cops.

He and the woman appeared to be strangers and he said nothing to her as he set her clothing ablaze with a lighter, cops said.

“(He) began fanning the fire using a shirt. The deceased became entirely engulfed in flames. The defendant then stepped out of the train onto a platform and continued fanning the flames with a shirt,” Rottenberg said in court.


Zapeta then threw the shirt to the ground and sat down on a bench on the subway platform to watch his deadly handiwork, prosecutors say.

Migrant drunkenly fanned flames after torching homeless woman on Brooklyn subway, district attorney says

NEW YORK — The migrant accused of torching a homeless woman on a Brooklyn subway made his first court appearance Tuesday to face murder charges — and prosecutors revealed he used his shirt to fan the flames after he ignited her clothes with a lighter. Sebastian Zapeta, a 33-year-old Guatemalan...

www.yahoo.com

 

[Freyja]

And the wicked witch Kathy Hochul had the nerve to go on TV 8 hours later and say that the NYC subway system was safer! WTF??? I know she wouldn't travel on it without a bevy of armed bodyguards. But she expects New Yorkers to travel on it unarmed and look the other way when criminals attack defenseless victims. They want all of us to be good little victims, bend over and take one in the wallysucker! This should not fly in a civilized country. The people have had enough!

 

[knockout]

Guess this is where our tax dollars are going, instead of taking care of our veterans

But Robinson said his migrant pal smoked about $30 worth of the synthetic drug every day and lost it when he drank.

Exclusive | Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, accused of burning woman to death on NYC subway, often ‘bugged out’ after smoking K2, shelter roommate says

Robinson said his migrant pal smoked about $30 worth of the synthetic drug every day and lost it when he drank.

nypost.com

 

[Sugar Cookie]

The woman killed when she was set on fire in a Brooklyn subway car has been identified by police, after using fingerprint and dental information and DNA evidence.

On Tuesday, NYPD officers identified her as 57-year-old Debrina Kawam, originally from Toms River.

She is believed to have been homeless and was sleeping on the subway when she was set on fire.

Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday that Kawam briefly spent time in the city's shelter system.

NYPD identifies woman set on fire and killed on Brooklyn subway train

The victim is believed to have been homeless, sleeping on the subway when she was set on fire.

abc7ny.com

I hope the someone claims her body or the city provides her with a proper funeral.

 

[Turd Fergusen]

Sleeping woman burned to death on NYC subway train pictured in HS yearbook photo: ‘Million dollar smile’​

The sleeping subway passenger who was burned to death on a Brooklyn F train had aspirations to be a flight attendant and was known for her “million dollar smile,” according to her high school yearbook biography.

Debrina Kawam, known to her classmates as “Debbie” or “Deb,” graduated from Passaic Valley Regional School in Little Falls, New Jersey, in 1985, the New York Times reported.

Kawam, 57, later fell on hard times: Sources said she was living in New York City homeless shelters from September until Dec. 2.

Sleeping woman burned to death on NYC subway train pictured in HS yearbook photo: ‘Million dollar smile’

Debrina Kawam had aspirations to be a flight attendant and was known for her “million dollar smile,” according to her high school yearbook biography.

nypost.com

 

[Sugar Cookie]

This should be a federal death penalty case.

The illegal immigrant charged with the horrific torching death of a New Jersey woman on a Brooklyn subway train told cops he was so inebriated after a night of drinking that he blacked out before the sick attack, newly released court records reveal.

Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, 33, wore an orange jumpsuit and orange jacket as he was arraigned in Brooklyn Supreme Court on murder and arson charges Tuesday, with prosecutors revealing the Guatemalan native’s troubling interview with detectives after the Dec. 22 attack.

“Sometimes when I drink and erase the memory, and I don’t know, right?” Zapeta-Calil allegedly told cops, according to a criminal complaint. “When I wake up I’m already in the house, already sleeping. I wake up when I’m already home, or there are times when I wake up and I’m already at the train station.”

“I was drunk,” he allegedly said. “I drink in the afternoons.”

“I am very sorry,” he allegedly told NYPD detectives. “I didn’t mean to. But I really don’t know. I don’t know what happened, but I’m very sorry for that woman.”

Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, migrant accused of torching NJ woman to death on NYC subway, claims he was ‘blacked out’ drunk before sick attack: court docs

The illegal immigrant charged with the horrific torching death of a New Jersey woman on a Brooklyn subway train told cops he was so inebriated after a night of drinking that he blacked ou…

nypost.com

 

[Khadijah]

Sebastian Zapeta-Calil is a man with an alcohol problem. He needs help. He needs treatment.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

All members should collectively stop liking or reading any of @Khadijah threads or comments.

The smartest thing to do would put him on ignore.

Funny how he says nothing ignorant on any thread he creates

A perfect representation of the piece of shit known as Khadijah

 

[BuffettGirl]

Funny how he says nothing ignorant on any thread he creates

Funny how it has a protector that will rally around it...

 

[Sugar Cookie]

A woman set on fire inside a New York City subway has raised questions about how a former cheerleader and Merck employee, who fell into homelessness, became the victim of an attack allegedly by a deported migrant.

Police say 57-year-old Debrina Kawam, a resident of Toms River, New Jersey, was sleeping on the train when Sebastian Zapeta, the man accused, set her on fire and watched her burn.

It took nearly two weeks for police to identify her following the incident. The Coalition for the Homeless had initially identified her as possibly homeless, but confirmation was pending verification from her family.

Nonetheless a vigil was held for Kawam last month, where the community came together to honor her life despite not knowing exactly who she was.

"Ms. Kawam and her loved ones deserve a measure of justice and New Yorkers deserve to feel safe in the subways," Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said.

Kawam grew up in Little Falls, New Jersey, where she was reportedly a popular student, cheerleader, and worked at a pancake house, according to friends who spoke with The New York Times.

In her 20s, she traveled with friends to places like Jamaica, Mexico, the Bahamas, and Las Vegas, holding various short-term jobs, as recalled by friend Cindy Certosimo Bowie.

In the early 2000s, Kawam worked for Merck, but her life took a downturn.

Public records show she fell into debt, faced liens, and filed for bankruptcy. Court documents also reveal multiple minor arrests under the name Debrina Kawam.

In a 2008 bankruptcy filing, Kawam listed more than $90,000 in debt and no income.

At the time, her assets included clothes, a futon, a television and a Dodge Neon worth $800.

According to the Department of Social Services, she briefly stayed at a New York homeless shelter after moving to the city recently, though it didn't say when.

Here's the story behind the woman set on fire in the NYC subway

A woman set on fire inside a New York City subway has raised questions about how a world traveler and former Merck employee ended up homeless and burned on a train.

www.yahoo.com

 

[Ella Mayo]

 

[Ella Mayo]

Sebastian Zapeta-Calil is a man with an alcohol problem. He needs help. He needs treatment.

So did his victim, turd-gobbler.