The suspect is accused of setting a sleeping woman's clothes on fire, using his shirt to fan the flames and then sitting on a platform bench nearby.

The deadly fire on the F train was one of several high-profile acts of violence in New York City's subway system at the end of last year, even as transit crime dropped overall in 2024. The NYPD on Monday pledged to send 200 more officers into the subway, with a focus on train cars and platforms.

In December 2024, a woman was brutally set on fire in a New York City subway. She has now been identified as 57-year-old Toms River, New Jersey, resident Debrina Kawam. As the NYPD and Mayor Eric Adams spoke to the press, they explained more details about the terrifying crime.

A 61-year-old New Jersey woman has been identified as the woman who was set on fire and burned to death on a New York City subway car. Debrina Kawam, of Toms River, New Jersey, was sleeping inside a train car at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station in Brooklyn on December 22 when the horrific incident occurred.

The man accused of burning a sleeping woman to death inside a NYC subway train pleaded not guilty on Tuesday morning.

Sebastian Zapeta, the man accused of setting a woman on fire on the NYC subway, is due in court in the death of Debrina Kawam.

The man accused of burning a sleeping woman to death inside a New York City subway train is set to be arraigned Tuesday on murder and arson charges. Sebastian Zapeta, 33, will appear in Brooklyn court in connection with the killing of Debrina Kawam,

The man accused of burning a woman alive while she was asleep on a New York City subway is set to be arraigned Tuesday on murder and arson charges. #NYC #arson #subway