Sebastian Zapeta Pleads Not Guilty to Murder and Arson in NYC Subway Fire on F Train at Coney Island

Jan 7, 2025, 03:51 PM

Sebastian Zapeta, a 33-year-old Guatemalan national, pleaded not guilty to murder and arson charges in a Brooklyn court on Tuesday. He is accused of setting Debrina Kawam, a 57-year-old New Jersey native, on fire while she was sleeping on a New York City subway train on December 22. The incident occurred on a stopped F train at Brooklyn's Coney Island station, where Zapeta allegedly fanned the flames with a shirt and watched as Kawam burned. Zapeta, who had been deported from the U.S. in 2018 and re-entered illegally, confirmed to police that he was the man in surveillance photos and videos but claimed he did not recall the incident due to heavy drinking. He faces multiple counts of murder and an arson charge, with the top charge carrying a maximum sentence of life in prison without parole.