NYPD identifies woman set on fire and killed on Brooklyn subway train using fingerprints
NEW YORK (WABC) -- The woman killed when she was set on fire in a Brooklyn subway car has been identified solely with fingerprint analysis, not DNA or dental X-rays, according to the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner.
On Tuesday, NYPD officers identified her as 57-year-old Debrina Kawam, originally from Toms River, New Jersey.
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.
"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."
Last week, a grand jury indicted the alleged subway arsonist on four counts of murder -- one count of murder in the first degree, three counts of murder in the second degree and arson in the first degree during a hearing Friday.
Sebastian Zapeta, 33, did not appear in court for prosecutors' brief announcement of the indictment but he must appear when he is arraigned on the indictment on Jan. 7.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said that "murder in the first degree carries the possibility of life without parole," calling it a charge that is "more significant in state court than currently in federal court."
"We believe very strongly that this case belongs in the state court," he said, quickly adding, "we have a very strong working relationship with our federal partners and of course we will always do what is in the best interests" of the case.
RELATED | Adams suggests federal prosecutors also take case of accused subway arsonist after woman killed
Gonzalez thanked grand jurors who watched the graphic surveillance video of her death recovered from a subway car.
"Right around the holiday, to have to see the video and the images of a woman set on fire is very hard to deal with," he said. "This was a malicious deed, a sleeping vulnerable woman on our subway system. This was intentional and we intend to prove this in a court of law."
Police took Zapeta into custody while he was riding a train on the same line later that day. Authorities say he claimed not to know what had happened but identified himself in photos and surveillance video showing the fire being lit.
A Brooklyn address for Zapeta released by police after his arrest matches a shelter that provides housing and substance abuse support.
Federal immigration officials said he was deported in 2018 but returned to the U.S. illegally sometime after that.
The harrowing episode has renewed concerns about safety in the nation's largest mass transit system.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
RELATED | Man accused in woman's burning death used shirt to fan flames, prosecutors say
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