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HS yearbook pic of woman who was set ablaze on NYC subway train goes viral, victim was known for ‘million dollar smile’
Debrina Kawam aspired to be a flight attendant, and was among three students who earned the superlatives of “million dollar smile” and “most punk.”
The woman who was set on fire on a Brooklyn F train was recently identified as 57-year-old Debrina Kawam of New Jersey, and now her high school yearbook photo has gone viral. According to the yearbook biography, Kawam aspired to be a flight attendant and was known for her “million dollar smile.”
Kawam graduated from Passaic Valley Regional HS in Little Falls, New Jersey, in 1985, as reported by The New York Times. She was known to her classmates as ‘Debbie’ or ‘Deb.’ Falling on hard times, she later started living in New York City homeless shelters from September until December 2.
Kawam was originally from Toms River. She said her memories at the public school were participating in freshman and sophomore cheerleading and confessed that her secret ambition was “to party forever,” before signing off her biography thanking her parents “for everything.” The outlet said that Kawam was among three students who earned the superlatives of “million dollar smile” and “most punk.”
Sebastian Zapeta-Calil indicted
Kawam was asleep when she was set ablaze by Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, an illegal Guatemalan immigrant. The 33-year-old was indicted on first- and second-degree murder and one count of arson on December 27.
Zapeta-Calil, who was deported in 2018 but managed to sneak back into the United States, said he did not remember the attack as he was too drunk. If convicted on the top count of first-degree murder, he faces up to life in prison without the possibility of parole, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said.
“It is the most serious statute in New York state law, and my office is very confident about the evidence in this case and our ability to hold Zapeta accountable for his dastardly deeds,” Gonzalez said, according to New York Post.
Olga Corpion, a Toms River resident, had bought the house Kawam’s mother once lived in. Shortly after moving into the neighborhood in May, Scorpion met Kawam.
“She said, ‘Hi, my name is Debrina, and I want to go see my mom. My mother lives here. I want to talk to her,’” Corpion recalled. “She looked like she was in her 50s, so right away I assumed she was not well, because she didn’t know her mom had moved. I’m in shock that she was standing right here and then I found out she died so horribly.”
