(New York) The man accused of setting a woman on fire on the New York subway told investigators, “Oh my gosh, it’s me,” when he saw video of the attack, but said he did not remember anything, according to a transcript released Tuesday.
Posted at 2:18 p.m.
Updated at 9:06 p.m.
The interview was made public shortly after Sebastian Zapeta, 33, pleaded not guilty to murder and arson charges in a Brooklyn court. Prosecutors say he set fire to Debrina Kawam, 57, aboard a stopped train in the early morning hours of Dec. 22, fanned the flames with a shirt and watched the woman burn from a bench on the metro.
The man accused of setting a woman on fire on the New York subway told investigators, “Oh my gosh, it’s me,” when he saw video of the attack, but said he didn’t remember nothing, according to a transcript released Tuesday.
The interview was made public shortly after Sebastian Zapeta, 33, pleaded not guilty to murder and arson charges in a Brooklyn court. Prosecutors say he set fire to Debrina Kawam, 57, aboard a stopped train in the early morning hours of Dec. 22, fanned the flames with a shirt and watched the woman burn from a bench on the metro.
At a Brooklyn police station later that day, authorities described Mr. Zapeta as reacting with “disgust” and “strangeness” to the video, wiping his eyes and exclaiming in Spanish: “Oh, my God ”, according to the transcript.
“I’m really sorry. I didn’t want to,” he then told investigators. “I don’t know what happened, but I’m really sorry for that woman. »
He added that he drank heavily all night and fell asleep on the subway, but did not remember what happened next.
Sebastian Zapeta told police he was a Guatemalan citizen and entered the country illegally five years ago. Immigration authorities noted that he was deported in 2018. He lived in a Brooklyn shelter and worked as a roofer.
The maximum sentence requested
He faces a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole for murder.
During a brief arraignment Tuesday, Mr. Zapeta kept his eyes fixed on the floor as his lawyer pleaded not guilty, nodding slightly as a Spanish translator whispered in his ear.
He was previously indicted last month on a criminal complaint, but in New York, all criminal cases require an indictment by a grand jury to proceed to trial unless a defendant waives that requirement.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said his office would seek the maximum sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. He said that after Mr. Zapeta was indicted in December, prosecutors were pursuing the charges “under the theory that this was an intentional act,” but noted that the indictment includes a charge of murder by “depraved indifference.”
“It is difficult to understand what could drive someone to commit the atrocious and horrific murder with which this man is accused,” Gonzalez said in a statement Tuesday. “Mme Kawam and his loved ones deserve some justice and New Yorkers deserve to feel safe on the subway.”
Mr. Zapeta’s lawyer did not respond to an email seeking comment Monday evening.
A difficult life
The victim, Debrina Kawam. grew up in Little Falls, New Jersey, and attended Passaic Valley Regional School, where she was a popular student, cheerleader and pancake house worker, her childhood and young adult friends said at the New York Times.
In her 20s, she traveled to Jamaica, Mexico, the Bahamas and Las Vegas with friends and had various jobs that she never held for very long, a friend, Cindy Certosimo Bowie, told the Times. The Associated Press left messages for possible relatives.
In the early 2000s, she worked for pharmaceutical giant Merck, but her life took a difficult turn at one point. She fell into debt, faced lawsuits and filed for bankruptcy, according to public records. A Debrina Kawam mentioned in court records was also arrested several times for minor offenses.
In her bankruptcy filed in 2008, she reported more than US$90,000 in debts, no income, and assets that included her clothes, a futon, a television, and a Dodge Neon worth US$800.
She briefly stayed in a New York homeless shelter after recently moving to the city, according to the Department of Human Services, which did not say when.
The killing reignited debate over safety in the nation’s largest transit system, even though crime on the subway remains relatively rare.
Crime on public transport is falling for the second year in a row, with a 5.4% drop last year compared to 2023, according to data released by police on Monday, which also showed an overall drop of 3%. major crimes throughout the metropolis.
Still, New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said at a news conference Monday that riders “just don’t feel safe.”
In response, she announced that the Police Department would deploy more than 200 officers on subway trains and more officers on platforms in the 50 stations where crime is highest.
“We know that 78% of transit crimes occur on trains and on platforms, and that’s obviously where our officers need to be present,” said Commissioner Tisch. This is just the beginning. »
