The illegal immigrant accused of torching a woman to death on a Brooklyn subway train was so blacked-out drunk that he was shocked when cops showed him video of the appalling attack, newly released court records reveal.
“Oh damn, that’s me!” Guatemalan native Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, 33, allegedly told NYPD detectives when he was shown footage of the Dec. 22 attack at a Brooklyn F train station.
Sebastian Zapeta in court on Jan. 7, 2025. Gregory P. Mango
The court arraignment for Sebastian Zapeta. Gregory P. Mango
A still image from the crime.
“No, the truth is I don’t remember,” he said. “Oh my goodness!”
Zapeta-Calil looked disgusted at the images, wiping his eyes and putting his head down on a table, according to a transcript of the interview unsealed in Brooklyn Supreme Court on Tuesday.
The stationhouse interview came just hours after cops said the drunken accused killer flicked a lighter on an F train at a sleeping Debrina Kawam, a 57-year-old from Toms River, NJ, and set her on fire — then fanned the flames and watched her burn.
On Tuesday, the hard-drinking migrant wore an orange jumpsuit and orange jacket as he was arraigned on murder and arson charges, admitting that he entered the country illegally five years ago — and was typically drunk.
“Sometimes when I drink and erase the memory, and I don’t know, right?” Zapeta-Calil allegedly told cops just hours after the disturbing, caught-on-video attack.
Follow the latest on the migrant accused of burning a woman to death on the subway:
- Horrific video shows suspect watching woman burn to death in F train car after he allegedly set her on fire
- Guatemalan migrant arrested for setting sleeping NYC subway rider on fire, watching her burn to death: cops
- Video shows moment cops swarm train to arrest migrant accused of setting subway rider on fire
- Fiend accused of burning woman to death on NYC subway is illegal migrant from Guatemala who sneaked into US after he was deported
“When I wake up, I’m already in the house, already sleeping. I wake up when I’m already home, or there are times when I wake up and I’m already at the train station,” he said. “I was drunk. I drink in the afternoons.”
Zapeta-Calil was initially turned away at the border in 2018 but snuck back into the country and was shacking up with relatives before going into the Big Apple shelter system, authorities said.
He told Brooklyn detectives he worked as a roofer with “a Mexican,” and got off work and made a beeline for a Queens bar, where he drank beer and tequila — then picked up some beer and kept drinking, according to a transcript of the interview.
Victim Debrina Kawam’s high school yearbook photo. Passaic Valley Regional High SchoolAfter a night of boozing it up, Zapeta-Calil told cops, he got on the F train early on the morning of the attack.
“Then, being about 8 or 9 in the morning, I stayed on 18th Avenue,” he allegedly said. “I really don’t remember how I got on this F train. When I reacted, I was already on it. When I woke up, I was already on the F train.”
The migrant allegedly got off at the Stillwell Avenue-Coney Island station and lit Kawan on fire while she slept, and was picked up by police later in the day near Columbus Circle.
The victim’s body is removed from the subway. Gregory P. Mango
Kawam was a native of Tom’s River, New Jersey. photo: via Mark MonteyneIn court Tuesday, the migrant’s lawyer asked that he remain under medical supervision while he is held without bail.
Zapeta-Calil pleaded not guilty to the charges and is due back in court in March.
“I am very sorry,” he allegedly told NYPD detectives. “I didn’t mean to. But I really don’t know. I don’t know what happened, but I’m very sorry for that woman.”
