Woman Who Was ‘Burned To Death’ By Guatemalan Illegal On Subway Is Identified By Police
(L) New York City Mayor Eric Adams and NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch hold a press conference. (Photo by Stephanie Keith/Getty Images) / (R) Sebastian Zapeta Khalil, 33, illegal alien in Guatemala. (Photo courtesy of New York City Police Department)
OAN Staff Brooke Mallory 1:27 PM – Tuesday, December 31, 2024
The victim who was set on fire by an illegal alien on a Brooklyn F train was reportedly a 57-year-old woman from New Jersey named Debrina Khawam, police said Tuesday.
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Mainstream news outlets initially claimed she was 61 years old. This information has since been corrected by police.
Additionally, authorities have not released images of the victims.
December 22ndn.d.Khawam was set on fire at 7:30 a.m. while he was sleeping on a train at the Stillwell Avenue Coney Island station. She died of homicidal burns and smoke inhalation.
Sebastian Zapeta Khalil, an illegal Guatemalan immigrant, is currently facing charges including first-degree murder in connection with the brutal attack.
Horrifying camera footage shows Mr Khawam being engulfed in flames while the suspected killer quietly observes his burnt victim as he lights the fire from a station bench.
She was determined to be homeless by the Homeless Coalition. Officials said Khawam's identity was determined through fingerprints registered in a national database.
Khawam had been living in a homeless shelter in the Big Apple since at least September 9.th. November 30ththshe was assigned a bed at the Franklin Williams Women's Shelter in the Bronx, but fled on December 2nd.n.d.. According to law enforcement officials, she has at least three previous violations of the law. He was busted as a prostitute in New Jersey in 1994, charged with disorderly conduct in Maryland in 2010, and assaulted on April 28th.th Alcohol transit bust.
“She lives in New Jersey and was in our shelter system for a short period of time,” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said Tuesday. “Our hearts go out to the family on this horrific incident.
“This was just a terrible incident that affected the emotions of New Yorkers,” the mayor continued. “But this confirms what I've been saying all along: people shouldn't be living in subways. They should be in places of care.
“No matter where she lives, this shouldn't have happened.”
post Witnesses also informed us that the woman was still alive when she was set on fire, and that her walker and other bags were nearby.
Previous reports said the body was so badly charred in the attack that the city medical examiner went through a lengthy process to identify him.
Zapeta Khalil, an illegal immigrant, is currently incarcerated at Rikers Island without bail, charged with first- and second-degree murder and arson.
Federal immigration officials say he was deported less than a week after entering the United States illegally in 2018, but has since managed to return to the Big Apple. Zapeta Khalil resided in New York City's shelter system until March 2023.
post The outlet said it was informed by friends at the Brooklyn facility where he was last admitted that the immigrant was addicted to smoking the narcotic K2, a synthetic marijuana also known as “spice,” and was also an alcoholic. .
Jordan Neely, a 30-year-old insane homeless man in New York City who died after being restrained by Marine veteran Daniel Penny after threatening the lives of women and children around him, also died in that incident, according to a coroner's report. It is said that he was also taking the drug K2 at the time. . K2 is known to cause aggression, violent behavior, seizures, increased heart rate, and suicidal tendencies.
The Guatemalan suspected killer told police he was so drunk that he “didn't remember” setting her on fire.
“He smoked K2, drank alcohol and bugged,” said Raymond Robinson, a shelter resident who previously slept on a cot in a facility next to Zapeta Khalil.
“He would eavesdrop and talk to himself when he was high, but he never hurt anyone but himself,” Robinson said. “That's why this was so crazy. I was sleeping next to him and he never did that. I didn't want to leave my daughter with anyone, but… , he was the type of guy I could trust.
“As long as you're not high,” he added.
BREAKING: Police have identified Debrina Khawam, 61, of Toms River, New Jersey, as the woman set on fire by undocumented immigrant Sebastian Zapeta on the New York City subway.
