Victim Of Subway Burning Identified As NJ Woman- Here’s What We Know

 

Sebastian Zapeta, accused of setting a woman on fire inside a subway train, appears in court in New York, on Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024.

The New York Police Department released information Tuesday about the woman who died in a subway car in December after reportedly being set on fire, further debunking false information and political narratives that spread online about the victim.

Key Facts

Police officials say that on Dec. 22, a man set fire to a sleeping woman, now identified as Debrina Kawam, in a stopped subway car, leading to Kawam’s death and the subsequent arrest and charging of undocumented immigrant Sebastian Zapeta-Calil for murder and arson.

Little was shared about the victim, although multiple reports referred to her as a homeless woman, until Tuesday, when police officials and Mayor Eric Adams confirmed the victim was 57-year-old Kawam, a resident of Toms River township in New Jersey, the Associated Press reported.

Video from cameras in the subway alongside fingerprint and DNA technology were used in identifying Kawam, the New York Times reported.

Mayor Eric Adams called Kawam’s death a “horrific incident” in a news conference on Tuesday, saying she spent a “brief stint in our homeless shelter system” and nothing else is known about her besides these few details.

Police previously said the alleged victim and Zapeta-Calil did not know each other and that finding Kawam’s identity was difficult—on Dec. 26, an unnamed spokesperson told Reuters that the victim’s identity was “pending.”

Who Was Amelia Carter, The Name Spread As The Victim?

Soon after news broke about the horrific death, images and posts started spread online, sharing the incorrect identity of the victim as Amelia Carter and spreading misinformation about her background. Some of the photos used to promote this fake victim were generated by artificial intelligence, Reuters reported. Other posts falsely identified her a student at the University of Pennsylvania. The real-life Carter, falsely identified, said in a Bluesky post on Dec. 24 that the photos were misappropriating her image and that she “condemn[s] white supremacy in all its forms.”

Key Background

The suspect, 33-year-old Zapeta, is an immigrant from Guatemala who was previously deported in 2018 and later came back to the United States illegally. The New York Times reports that he was staying at a homeless shelter in Brooklyn. On Dec. 23, Zapeta was charged with first-degree murder, three counts of second-degree murder and arson. Prosecutors say that the victim was sleeping on an F train bound around 7:30 a.m. at a Coney Island station when Zapeta, sitting near her, walked over to her and lit her on fire. Prosecutors also said Zapeta claimed he drinks excessively and does not remember the event. A video reported by multiple outlets shows Zapeta exiting the train and later sitting at a bench nearby, watching before approaching her and “fanning” the flames. Students later identified him from photos and alerted the police. Zapeta has not yet entered a plea and was absent from a court hearing on Friday. He is in jail and set to make a court appearance when his indictment is unsealed in January.