New York City police have named the woman who was set on fire and burned to death on a Brooklyn subway train.
On Tuesday, authorities identified Debrina Kawam, 61, of New Jersey as the victim of the apparently random Dec. 22 attack that burned her body beyond recognition.
Sebastian Sapeta, 33, is accused of starting the fire with a lighter while Ms Kawam was asleep. He allegedly started the flames with a shirt and then watched the fire spread from a bench outside the subway car.
Last week, a grand jury indicted Mr. Sapetta, who claims he has no memory of the incident, on four counts of murder and one count of arson.
It took authorities more than a week to fully identify the body.
Eric Gonzalez, the Brooklyn district attorney, said at a press conference at the start of the investigation that authorities were working to collect DNA evidence and fingerprints from Ms. Kawam's remains.
“It's a priority for me, my office and the police department to identify this woman so we can notify her family,” Mr. Gonzalez said.
False and unverified information about her, including a fake AI-generated photo, has been circulating online while authorities work.
There has also been an outpouring of support, including a vigil held for the then-unidentified victim last week.
Police say Ms. Kawam was motionless, apparently asleep, on a stationary subway train at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station in Brooklyn early on Dec. 22 when Mr. Sapetta allegedly approached her with a lighter .
The two never interacted and police don't believe they knew each other.
The video appears to show the suspect waving a shirt at her in an apparent effort to fan the flames rather than extinguish them. He then exits the subway car and watches the flames from a bench on the platform.
New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the smell of smoke drew officers and Metropolitan Transit Authority personnel to the fire, where they extinguished the flames.
“Unbeknownst to the responding officers, the suspect remained in place and sat on a bench on the platform directly in front of the carriage,” Ms Tisch said.
Authorities pronounced Ms Kawam dead at the scene.
Ms Tisch described the incident as “one of the most depraved crimes a human can commit against another human being”.
In a preliminary hearing Tuesday, prosecutor Ari Rothenberg said Mr. Sapetta told investigators he had been drinking and did not remember the incident, but he identified himself in photographs and video footage showing the fire being set.
Mr Sapeta, who is originally from Guatemala, was deported from the US in 2018. and later re-entered the country illegally, immigration officials said.
He is due back in court Jan. 7, prosecutors said.