A man named Sebastian Zapeta, originally from Guatemala, has entered a plea of not guilty to accusations that he set a woman ablaze while she was asleep in a New York subway. According to a transcript disclosed on Tuesday, Zapeta informed investigators that he had no recollection of the alleged occurrence. Officials charged Zapeta with igniting the fire on the woman’s attire on December 22nd and tending it using his clothes. Then, as the woman was consumed by the flames, Zapeta reportedly sat on a bench nearby.
Local law enforcement officers present in the Brooklyn subway station jumped into action when they spotted and smelled smoke. Despite their efforts, they failed to douse the fire before it claimed the woman’s life. This case is one among various New York subway incidents that have captured national attention over recent times. In his Tuesday court hearing, Zapeta’s legal counsel informed the judge that his client denied the charges of arson and murder, inclusive of first-degree murder.
When the investigators showed surveillance camera footage from the subway to Zapeta and asked if he could recognize the individual depicted, he responded, ‘Oh damn, that’s me,’ as per the transcript disclosed on Tuesday. Zapeta persisted in his assertion that he had no memory of allegedly setting the woman aflame on the subway. Matthew Perry, a Senior Assistant District Attorney from the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office, stated to Judge Danny Chun that Zapeta was being indicted for intentionally setting the woman aflame in December, leading to her death.
In January, a grand jury indicted the 33-year-old Zapeta on several charges, including one count of first-degree murder, two counts of second-degree murder, and first-degree arson, as per court documents. Zapeta opted against making an appearance at the December 27 hearing. Chun mentioned that the next hearing, which is supposed to scrutinize the saliency of the grand jury’s evidence, is set for March 12.
The court documents reveal that Zapeta was engaged in roofing and siding work in the boroughs of Queens and Brooklyn. On the night before the tragic occurrence at the Coney Island subway station, he had visited a bar in Queens. In the wee hours on the day of the incident, between 5 and 6 in the morning, Zapeta boarded the F train, but he told investigators that he did not recall the destination.
According to his statement to the judging panel, Zapeta, after deboarding the F train, sought some refreshments in the form of beers. In an interview with investigators, Zapeta maintained his stance, stating that he did not recollect the incident in which the woman was set afire. He stated unequivocally to the two investigators interviewing him at around 6 p.m. on the day of the incident, ‘In truth, I don’t remember at all.’ Zapeta also expressed his inability to pinpoint when the captured images of him were taken.
At the courthouse proceedings on a bitterly cold Tuesday morning, Kevin McCall, the founder of the Crisis Action Center, was addressing reporters. He mentioned that the family of the victim, a 57-year-old woman named Debrina Kawam, wishes for the city of New York to commemorate her life. He stated, ‘She was a human being in this city and she should be remembered. She lived in Brooklyn and died in Brooklyn.’
The family of victim Kawam, which did not attend the court proceedings on Tuesday, hail from Toms River, a locale situated in the central region of New Jersey on the Jersey Shore. McCall added that Kawam was originally from Toms River as well. Prior to her untimely death, she had been living in a homeless shelter system in Brooklyn, part of New York City.
A memorial service for Kawam has been planned for January 12 in the Sheepshead Bay neighborhood of South Brooklyn, specifically at the First Baptist Church. The chosen venue for the service is about two miles from the Coney Island subway station, where Kawam was declared dead. Some individuals, referencing surveillance footage from the subway, have accused law enforcement officers of simply watching as the blaze engorged.
The police defended their actions, arguing that one of the officers, who is visible in the footages, was trying to manage the crime scene even as their colleagues were attempting to secure fire extinguishers and alert the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s employees. In a press briefing, Jessica Tisch, the New York Police Commissioner, mentioned that Kawam ‘became fully engulfed in a matter of seconds.’ Despite the police’s efforts to extinguish the fire, Kawam was declared dead on the site.
Zapeta, who now faces a potential life imprisonment without an opportunity for parole if convicted of first-degree murder, was unlawfully residing in the U.S. after being deported in 2018. Prior to the incident, he had been living in a homeless shelter in Brooklyn, as stated by officials. Investigators are yet to disclose whether Kawam and Zapeta had any prior connections or to announce a possible motive behind this atrocious incident.
Subsequent to the incident on December 22, Zapeta was apprehended a few hours later. This occurred after a group of teenagers identified him on the subway in Midtown Manhattan and promptly alerted the authorities. As of now, the narrative surrounding the incident remains highly complex and entwined in a web of perplexing evidence, questioning the very nature of human memory.