The man accused of killing a woman sleeping on a New York City subway car by setting her on fire after what prosecutors say was a night of heavy drinking pleaded not guilty to charges of murder and arson at a court hearing on Tuesday.

The man accused of setting a woman on fire on a subway train in Brooklyn is expected back in court on Tuesday. Sebastian Zapeta, 33, is scheduled to be arraigned after he waived the right to his first court appearance last month.

In December 2024, a woman was brutally set on fire in a New York City subway. She has now been identified as 57-year-old Toms River, New Jersey, resident Debrina Kawam. As the NYPD and Mayor Eric Adams spoke to the press, they explained more details about the terrifying crime.

Sebastian Zapeta, the man accused of setting a woman on fire on the NYC subway, pleads not guilty in the death of Debrina Kawam.

Sebastian Zapeta-Calil repeatedly told detectives he had no memory of an attack that killed a woman who was set ablaze on the New York City subway train he was riding the morning of December 22, according to court documents.

The New York Police Department ( NYPD) on Tuesday announced they identified the woman who died after being set on fire while inside a New York City subway train as Debrina Kawam. Kawam, 57, had an address in Toms River, New Jersey, according to the NYPD.

A man accused of setting a sleeping woman on fire and killing her on a New York subway is scheduled to be arraigned on murder and arson charges Tuesday morning.

Authorities in New York have released the cause and manner of death of a woman who was set aflame inside a subway car earlier this month. Debrina Kawam, a 57-year-old resident of New Jersey, died from "thermal and inhalational injuries," the New York City Chief Medical Examiner confirmed to PEOPLE on Tuesday.

Sebastian Zapeta, the Guatemalan man accused of lighting a sleeping subway rider on fire and watching her burn to death on a Brooklyn subway car, was arraigned Tuesday.

New Jersey woman Debrina Kawam was burned to death on the subway. Posts sharing an AI-generated photo misidentified the victim as Amelia Carter.