The NYPD has identified the woman who was set on fire in a New York subway car by illegal Guatemalan immigrant Sevastian Zapeta-Calil on December 22. Debrina Kawam, a 61- year-old homeless woman was identified using fingerprints as her body was charred beyond recognition, police said. Kawam had a listed address of Toms River, New Jersey, the New York Post reported.She was sleeping on an F train at the Stillwell Avebue-Coney Island station in Brooklyn when she was set on fire. The video of her burning alive sent shockwaves as no one came to her help as she turned into ashes.
The woman was alive when she was set on fire. The woman had a mobility issue owing to which she could not react to the fire promptly and stood up only when she was completely burned. A walker and several bags were found nearby,
Earlier, a false claim went viral that the victim was 29-year-old Amelia Carter. An AI-generated photo was widely shared condemning the horrific incident. But the identity was not established before.
Zapeta-Calil entered the US illegally in 2018 but was deported within a few weeks. But he found his way back into the country. By March 2023, he was living in the New York City shelter system.
Zapeta told the police that he did not remember setting a woman on fire but identified himself from photos of the incident sourced from surveillance footage. The illegal migrant was charged with multiple counts of murder and arson.
A mate of Zapeta-Calil who knew him from the Brooklyn facility said he was addicted to smoking the synthetic drug K2 and drank heavily daily. But he had no history of harming anyone or himself when he was high. On that morning, the pal said, Zapeta-Calil had breakfast with him and said he would be going for his morning run. The next thing they knew was that his footage was everywhere on the television and he was arrested from a different subway station at least eight hours after the incident.
