Vigil held for New York City subway burning victim Debrina Kawam in Brooklyn
NEW YORK -- A vigil was held Sunday in Brooklyn for Debrina Kawam, the woman fatally set on fire on a subway back in December.
Faith leaders who've been in touch with her family shared new details about her life. They also announced potential new legislation that would be in her name.
A student and bubbly cheerleader who held classmates
The memorial at First Baptist Church in Sheepshead Bay was about dignity and respect for Kawam. Community leaders talked about how the city failed the 57-year-old New Jersey native in life and in death.
"It's still a chilling moment, a frightening moment, panic moment, traumatizing moment. We're praying for her soul to rest in peace. We're praying that some justice will be done," Bishop Boyde Singletary said.
Through songs and prayer, lawmakers and leaders from several different faiths said Kawam's family knew her as "Debbie," and that at Passaic Valley Regional High School in Little Falls, New Jersey, she was a student and bubbly cheerleader who helped classmates, and an adventurer who loved travel.
"She looked very outgoing. She looked very lovely. She was young, and she had everything ahead of her," Gravesend resident Angelo Canital said. "I can't imagine someone ending up like she did, homeless with a walker on a subway. You can't imagine, but it can happen to people quite easily sometimes. That's the sad part about it."
Public records show Kawam filed for bankruptcy in 2008, indicating "I haven't worked due to illness."
Push on for legislation in Kawam's name
Civil Rights leader the Rev. Kevin McCall said he's been in touch with Kawam's family members, who still mostly live in New Jersey.
"She was a loving vibrant person. She was into makeup. She was into poetry," McCall said.
None of Kawam's relatives attended the service in person, but McCall said they wanted people to know that they do not consider her to have been homeless.
"She has been with her family throughout the duration of her life," McCall said. "They was helping her, assisting her, including her mom. At this time, they wanted to really show tough love and they wanted to move forward to help her and that's why she was in the system. Late November, she was in the system, so it wasn't that long.
"They want justice. They want the person that did this, their exact words were 'burn in hell,'" he added.
McCall said he will speak to lawmakers about introducing the "Debrina "Debbie" Kawam" law, which would require fire extinguishers on subway trains.
He also announced that clergy will start patrolling the subways alongside the Guardian Angels.
What allegedly happened on the subway in Brooklyn
Police say Kawam, who was homeless, had been riding the subway for shelter on Dec. 22, when 33-year-old Sebastian Zapeta allegedly sprayed a liquid on her and then used a lighter to ignite the flames. Police say he then sat on a platform bench and watched her burn to death.
Zapeta is due back in court in March on charges of murder and arson. He faces the possibility of life in prison. Prosecutors say he told police he had been drinking that day and didn't remember what happened.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement -- or ICE -- says Zapeta, a native of Guatemala, was deported from the U.S. in 2018 for being here illegally, but then re-entered the country some time later.
