Man accused of burning woman alive in subway will be prosecuted

NEW YORK — The man accused of burning a woman asleep to death inside a New York City subway train will be arraigned Tuesday on charges of murder and arson.

Sebastián Zapeta, 33, will appear in a Brooklyn court in connection with the murder of Debrina Kawam57.

Prosecutors say Zapeta set fire to the New Jersey native on an F train stopped at Brooklyn’s Coney Island station on December 22. Zapeta then fanned the flames with a shirt before sitting on the platform bench and watching Kawam burn, they allege.

Prosecutors say Zapeta confirmed to police that he was the man in photographs and surveillance videos of the fire, but said he drinks a lot of alcohol and did not remember what happened.

Zapeta, a Guatemalan citizen who authorities say entered the country illegally after being deported in 2018, faces multiple counts of murder and one count of arson. The main charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.

He was previously prosecuted on a criminal complaint, but in New York, all felony cases require a grand jury indictment to proceed to trial, unless the defendant waives that requirement.

Prosecutors from Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez’s office announced that Zapeta had been indicted in late December.

Zapeta’s attorney did not respond to an email seeking comment Monday night.

The murder has renewed discussion on safety on the country’s largest mass transit system, even as subway crime remains relatively rare.

Traffic crime has decreased for the second year in a row, with a 5.4% drop last year compared to 2023, according to data released by the police Monday, which also showed an overall 3% drop in major crimes citywide.

Still, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a Monday news conference discussing the statistics that passengers simply “don’t feel safe.”

In response, he said the department will send more than 200 officers to subways and deploy more officers to subway platforms in the city’s 50 highest-crime stations.

“We know that 78% of traffic crimes occur on trains and platforms, and that’s obviously where our officers need to be,” Tisch said. “This is just the beginning.”