By Jonathan Allen
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The man accused of killing a woman sleeping on a New York City subway car by setting her on fire pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and arson at a court hearing on Tuesday.
A grand jury has indicted Sebastian Zapeta, 33, of one count of first-degree murder, three counts of second-degree murder and one count of first-degree arson in the first degree for the killing of Debrina Kawam, 57.
Crime remains relatively rare on the city’s subway, one of the oldest and largest transit systems in the world, but the New York Police Department acknowledged this week that attacks like Kawam’s violent killing can terrify New Yorkers.
Many were horrified by a brief video of Kawam engulfed in flames near the open doors of a train car, recorded by a horrified bystander on the platform.
According to the police account, Zapeta used a lighter to ignite the clothes of Kawam, who appeared to be sleeping on a seat in a stationary F train car at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue subway station at about 7:30 a.m. on Dec. 22.
He then used a shirt to fan the fire, the police complaint said.
Kawam was pronounced dead at the scene after the fire was extinguished. The city’s medical examiner said the cause of death was smoke inhalation and thermal injuries. It took more than a week to identify her using fingerprint analysis.
Zapeta is a Guatemalan citizen, federal officials have said, who has been living in a homeless shelter in Brooklyn, according to the New York Police Department.
He was arraigned in the Kings Supreme Court in Brooklyn in brief hearing before Judge Danny Chun on Tuesday morning, appearing in orange jail clothes with his hands cuffed behind his back and a Spanish interpreter at his side.
Kawam was from Toms River, a coastal town in New Jersey, and, like Zapeta, had also spent time in the city’s homeless shelter system, according to Mayor Eric Adams.
About 4 million trips are taken each weekday on the city’s subway, where serious crime, predominantly thefts, declined for a second year in a row in 2024, down 5.4% from the previous year, the New York Police Department said.
Killings have increased, however. As of November, there had been nine homicides reported on the subway in 2024, compared to five in the same period in 2023, according to police data.
New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said on Monday she was sending more officers to patrol the system in response to Kawam’s killing and other “terrifying random acts of violence.”
“Declining crime numbers are significant, but we still must do more, because people don’t feel safe in our subways,” Tisch said.
If convicted on any of the charges, Zapeta faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security has said that Zapeta had entered the country unlawfully, and would eventually seek to deport him.
