Police in New York City have released the name of the woman who was set on fire and burned to death on a Brooklyn subway train.
Authorities on Tuesday identified Debrina Quam, 61, of New Jersey, as the victim of the Dec. 22 random attack that left her body burned beyond recognition.
Sebastian Zabieta, 33, is accused of starting the fire with a lighter while Ms Quam was sleeping. He allegedly lit a shirt on fire and then watched the fire rising from a seat outside the metro car.
Last week, a grand jury indicted Zabetta, who claims to have no memory of the incident, on four counts of murder and one count of arson.
It took the authorities more than a week to fully identify the body.
Authorities worked to collect DNA and fingerprint evidence from Ms. Quam's remains, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said at a news conference early in the investigation.
“It is a priority for me, my office and the police department to identify this woman, so we can notify her family,” Gonzalez said.
False and unconfirmed information about her, including a fake image generated by artificial intelligence, was circulated online while authorities worked.
There has also been an outpouring of support, including a vigil held last week for the then-unidentified victim.
Police say Ms. Quam was motionless, apparently asleep, on a stationary subway train at the Coney Island-Stilwell Avenue station in Brooklyn early on December 22 when Mr. Zabetta approached her with a lighter.
The pair never interacted, and police believe they did not know each other.
The video shows the suspect waving a shirt at her in an apparent attempt to start the fire instead of putting it out. He then got out of the subway car and watched the fire from a seat on the platform.
New York Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the smell of smoke drew police officers and members of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to the fire, where they extinguished the flames.
“Unbeknownst to the responding officers, the suspect remained at the scene and was sitting on a bench on the platform outside the train car,” Ms Tisch said.
Authorities declared Ms. Quam dead at the scene.
Ms Tesch described the incident as “one of the most horrific crimes that one person can commit against another human being.”
At a preliminary hearing Tuesday, prosecutor Ari Rotenberg said Zabetta told investigators he had been drinking and did not remember the incident, but identified himself in photos and surveillance video showing the fire burning.
Immigration authorities said Zapeta, originally from Guatemala, was deported from the United States in 2018 and later returned to the country illegally.
He is scheduled to appear again in court on January 7, prosecutors said.
