Killing of Debrina Kawam

On the morning of December 22, 2024, at approximately 7:30 a.m. EST, a man approached the only other passenger aboard a stationary F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station in Brooklyn, New York City. The passenger, a woman, was sleeping. Using a lighter, the man set fire to her clothing, and she became engulfed in flames within seconds. The perpetrator left the train car but remained at the scene, sitting on a nearby bench. A bystander video captured him watching the fire and later using a T-shirt to fan the flames. Body camera footage from two responding officers recorded him on the bench, and separate video later showed a third officer repeatedly walking past the burning victim without attempting to extinguish the flames. A Metropolitan Transportation Authority worker eventually used a fire extinguisher to put out the fire. The victim was pronounced dead at the scene at 7:48 a.m.

The perpetrator was not immediately identified and left the station; investigators later circulated video images to identify him. Nine days after the attack, on December 31, 2024, police identified the victim as Debrina Kawam (born Debbie Kawam), a 57-year-old woman who had been living in New York City homeless shelters since at least September 9, 2024, after previously living in Toms River, New Jersey. She had attended Passaic Valley Regional High School in Little Falls, New Jersey, graduating in 1985. An autopsy determined her cause of death to be heat-related burns and smoke inhalation. In the day following the attack, false stories using an invented name and AI-generated images circulated on social media before being debunked.

The suspect, 33-year-old Guatemalan national Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, was arrested at the Herald Square station shortly after the incident when three high school students recognized him on another subway train and called 911. He was found in possession of a lighter at the time of arrest. Authorities said Zapeta-Calil had illegally immigrated to the United States and had previously been extradited in 2018 after attempting to enter through the Arizona-Mexico border; how long he had been in the country afterward was not known. He was formally charged with first-degree murder, second-degree murder, and arson. His arraignment was delayed after he was sent to a hospital overnight; he was arraigned on December 24, 2024, and entered no plea. A prosecutor stated during the arraignment that Zapeta-Calil told police he had been drinking heavily and did not remember what had happened. Authorities described the attack as likely unprovoked and said the suspect and victim were unrelated.

The case drew public reaction, including statements from New York City Mayor Eric Adams, Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch, and Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez, as well as criticism from incoming border czar Tom Homan directed at city and state officials over immigration policy. Public attention also focused on the responding officer who was recorded walking past the burning victim without intervening.