Woman burned to death in New York subway is identified as 57-year-old from New Jersey

NEW YORK — The woman who died after being set on fire in a New York subway train this month was a 57-year-old from New Jersey, police announced Tuesday.

The woman, Debrina Kawam, had worked at the pharmaceutical giant Merck in from 2000 until 2002, but her life at some point took a rocky turn. She had briefly been in a New York homeless shelter after moving to the city recently, the Department of Social Services said. It did not say when.

Police had an address for Kawam in Toms River, a community on the Jersey Shore, and authorities said they notified her family about her Dec. 22 death. The Associated Press left messages Tuesday for possible relatives.

''Hearts go out to the family — a horrific incident to have to live through,'' Mayor Eric Adams said at an unrelated news briefing.

It came hours before another harrowing act of violence on the nation's busiest subway system.

A 45-year-old man was pushed onto the tracks ahead of an oncoming train at a station under Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood about 1:30 p.m., police said. The man was taken to a hospital in critical condition, and police said they had a person of interest in custody.

Personal safety in the subways is generally comparable to safety in the city as a whole. But life-threatening crimes such as stabbings and shoves spread alarm about the trains that have carried more than 1 billion riders over the course of this year.

Police figures show major crimes on subways were down this year through November, compared with the same period last year, but killings rose from five to nine.

In Karam's case, prosecutors have said she was asleep on a subway train that was stopped at a station in Brooklyn's Coney Island when her clothes were set ablaze by a stranger, Sebastian Zapeta.

Zapeta, 33, allegedly fanned the flames with a shirt, engulfing her in the blaze, before sitting on a platform bench and watching as she burned.

Identifying the victim proved to be a challenge, and authorities said Friday that they were still using forensics and video surveillance to trace her.

Zapeta has been been indicted on murder and arson charges. He has not entered a plea, and his lawyer has declined to comment outside court.

Federal immigration officials say Zapeta is from Guatemala and entered the U.S. illegally. An address for him given by police matches a shelter that provides housing and substance abuse support.

Zapeta was arrested after police circulated images of a suspect and received a tip from a group of high school students.

Prosecutors have said Zapeta subsequently told police that he was the man in surveillance photos and videos of the fire being ignited, but that he drinks a lot of liquor and does not know what happened.

He is currently jailed, and his next court date is Jan. 7.

While it is not clear why Kawam was asleep in a subway car, New York's subways often unofficially function as a refuge for homeless people. In theory, legal settlements give homeless individuals a broad right to shelter in the city, but some turn to the trains if they are unable to stay in shelters or fearful about safety in them.

On the morning of the fire, temperatures were around 20 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 6.5 Celsius) and had been below freezing for 24 hours, according to data from nearby Brooklyn weather stations.

''No matter where she lived, that should not have happened,'' the mayor said.

The social services department said it would amplify its efforts to reach and help homeless people on streets and subways and encourage them to use shelters.

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This story has corrected Kawam's age based on updated information from the police. She was 57, not 61.