NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – The woman who was set on fire on a Coney Island subway train has finally been identified, more than a week after the killing, police announced on Tuesday.
She was identified as Debrina Kawam, 57, of Toms River, New Jersey.
New York City officials used forensics and video surveillance to identify the woman, who died after being set on fire aboard a subway car in Brooklyn.
Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday that Kawam had a “brief stint in our homeless shelter system” and that authorities had been in contact with her next of kin.
He did not say when Kawam was in the homeless system. “Hearts go out to the family, a horrific incident to have to live through,” Adams said at an unrelated press briefing. “It impacts on how New Yorkers feel. But it really reinforces what I’ve been saying: People should not be living on our subway system, they should be in a place of care. No matter where she lived that should not have happened.”
The man accused of lighting her on fire has been indicted by a grand jury on state charges, prosecutors announced last Friday.
Sebastian Zapeta, 33, is accused of setting the woman’s clothing ablaze on a stopped train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station on the morning of Dec. 22.
He has been indicted on charges of murder and arson, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said after a brief court hearing last Friday. The top charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole, Gonzalez added.
Attorneys for Zapeta, who federal immigration officials say is a Guatemalan citizen who entered the U.S. illegally, declined to comment.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch described the case on Sunday as “one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit against another human being.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.