NEW YORK (AP) — 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.
This story has corrected Kawam's age based on updated information from the police. She was 57, not 61.
FILE - Commuters sit on the F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue Station, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File)
FILE - Sebastian Zapeta, accused of setting a woman on fire inside a subway train, appears in court in New York, on Tuesday, Dec. 24, 2024. (Curtis Means/Pool Photo via AP, File)
Commuters sit on the F train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue Station, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — At least 30 people, including children, were killed in Gaza by Israeli strikes overnight and into Friday morning, hospital staff said, as sirens also sounded across Israel and stalled ceasefire talks were set to resume.
Staff at the Al Aqsa Martyrs hospital said more than a dozen women and children were killed in strikes that hit various places in Central Gaza, including Nuseirat, Zawaida, Maghazi and Deir al Balah. Dozens of people were also killed across the enclave the previous day, bringing the total of people killed in the past 24 hours to 56.
The Israeli army did not comment on the latest strikes. However, in a statement Friday, it said during the past day it had struck dozens of Hamas gathering points and command and control centers throughout Gaza, areas where Hamas had planned and executed attacks. The army said measures were taken to mitigate civilian harm, such as using precise munitions and aerial surveillance.
Strikes Thursday hit Hamas security officers and an Israeli-declared humanitarian zone. Among those killed early Friday was Omar al-Derawi, a freelance journalist. Associated Press reporters saw friends and colleagues mourning over his body at the hospital, with a press vest laid on top of his shroud.
Israelis also woke up to attacks early Friday morning. Israel said missiles were fired into the country from Yemen, which set off air raid sirens in Jerusalem and central Israel and sent people scrambling to shelters. There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage, though a faint explosion, likely either from the missile or from interceptors, could be heard in Jerusalem. Israel's army said a missile was intercepted.
As the attacks were underway, efforts at ceasefire negotiations were expected to resume Friday.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said he had authorized a delegation from the Mossad intelligence agency, the Shin Bet internal security agency and the military to continue negotiations in Qatar. The delegation is leaving for Qatar on Friday.
The U.S.-led talks have repeatedly stalled during 15 months of war, which was sparked by Hamas-led militants’ Oct. 7, 2023 attack into Israel. The militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted around 250. Around 100 hostages are still inside Gaza, at least a third believed to be dead.
Israel’s offensive in retaliation has killed over 45,500 Palestinians in Gaza, according to the territory's Health Ministry, which says women and children make up more than half the dead. The ministry does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally.
Israel's military says it only targets militants and blames Hamas for civilian deaths because its fighters operate in dense residential areas. The army says it has killed 17,000 militants, without providing evidence.
The war has caused widespread destruction and displaced some 90% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million, many of them multiple times.
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Mednick reported from Jerusalem
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Colleagues and friends mourn over the body of freelance journalist Omar al-Derawi and other victims of overnight Israeli army strikes at multiple locations in central Gaza Strip, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. According to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, 30 people, including 10 women and 7 children, were killed in several attacks overnight in central Gaza. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Children watch as the bodies of victims from overnight Israeli army strikes at multiple locations in the central Gaza Strip are laid together for funeral prayers, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. According to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, 30 people, including 10 women and 7 children, were killed in several attacks overnight in central Gaza. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Abdallah Abu Libda carries the body of his 6-month-old nephew, Mohammad Abu Libda, as victims of overnight Israeli army strikes at multiple locations in the central Gaza Strip are prepared for funeral prayers at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, on Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. According to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, 30 people, including 10 women and 7 children, were killed in the attacks. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Relatives mourn over the bodies of victims of overnight Israeli army strikes at multiple locations in central Gaza Strip, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. According to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, 30 people, including 10 women and 7 children, were killed in several attacks overnight in central Gaza. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
The bodies of victims from overnight Israeli army strikes at multiple locations in the central Gaza Strip are laid together for funeral prayers, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. According to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, 30 people, including 10 women and 7 children, were killed in several attacks overnight in central Gaza. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Colleagues and friends mourn over the body of freelance journalist Omar al-Derawi and other victims of overnight Israeli army strikes at multiple locations in central Gaza Strip, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. According to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, 30 people, including 10 women and 7 children, were killed in several attacks overnight in central Gaza. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Relatives mourn over the bodies of victims of overnight Israeli army strikes at multiple locations in central Gaza Strip, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. According to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, 30 people, including 10 women and 7 children, were killed in several attacks overnight in central Gaza. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
Relatives mourn as the bodies of victims from overnight Israeli army strikes at multiple locations in the central Gaza Strip are laid together for funeral prayers, at Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al-Balah, Friday, Jan. 3, 2025. According to Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital, 30 people, including 10 women and 7 children, were killed in several attacks overnight in central Gaza. (AP Photo/Abdel Kareem Hana)
