Three Teens Claim $10,000 Reward in Subway Fire Horror
The trio of friends spotted the alleged murderer Sebastian Zapeta-Calil on an uptown F train at Herald Square and smartly called 911. The cops got their man, but the NYPD’s promised reward money was less than forthcoming.
| 20 Jan 2025 | 03:14
One of the Brooklyn teens who called 911 about the subway arsonist was honored by his local Council member, Susan Zhuang (right). His face is blurred to protect his anonymity. (
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”Homeless subway victim” Debrina Kawan as a young woman during her high school days in Toms River, NJ. (
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Crime Stoppers tip page says: Call 911 if this an emergency or a crime in progress. (
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It was one of the most horrific crimes in New York City history—the burning alive of a homeless woman, Debrina Kawam, on Dec. 22 on an F train in Coney Island. And if the murder, which captured national headlines, could be said to have the slightest silver lining, it was that her alleged killer was quickly caught.
Still, it took more than a day for her alleged killer, Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, a 33-year-old illegal immigrant from Guatemala, to be spotted. And Zapeta-Calil, then residing at Samaritan Daytop Village, a homeless shelter and substance-abuse treatment center in East New York, Brooklyn, was spotted not by NYPD cops but by a trio of high school students on a Queens-bound F train at 34th Street-Herald Square.
The students recognized Zapeta-Calil as the man seen in a series of terrifying images and a video that quickly went viral—a woman and the contents of her shopping cart fully ablaze while her killer stands there calmly watching the fire dance. Then the three teenagers, friends and basketball teammates from Bensonhurst, did what they were taught to do: They called 911.
Thankfully, it was the right thing to do. Cops swiftly responded, halted the train at 34th Street and slowly searched the cars. Zapeta-Calil was arrested. Soon, cops allege that he told them he was drunk, and high on K2, a synthetic marijuana, and didn’t remember anything. In Brooklyn, Zapeta-Calil was charged with second-degree murder, sent to Rikers Island—no bail for this madman—and pleaded not guilty. His next court date is scheduled for March 12.
As for the woman Zapeta-Calil allegedly immolated, it took more than a week to identify “the subway victim” as 57-year-old New Jersey native Debrina Kawam. Suffering from mental illness, Kawam had entered NYC homeless shelters in September 2024 but found them so terrifying that life on the subway seemed better. In early January, the New York Times did a commendable job retrieving Kawam, once a bright and joyous young woman who attended high school in Toms River, NJ, from the tragic anonymity that was nearly her fate.
Meanwhile, what remained almost forgotten were the three boys, Navid, Christos and Kingson, who effected Zapeta-Calil’s capture. (The boys’ families requested their surnames not be used.)
This wasn’t just a matter of honor—which their local City Council member, Susan Zhuang, engineered for the Bensonhurst boys by citing them for their bravery--but also money, namely, the $10,000 reward offered by NYPD’s Crime Stoppers for information leading to the then-unknown subway immolator’s arrest.
While the youths made their call with the purest of public intention—to protect their city from immediate danger—afterwards, the fact that they were entitled to a publicly offered reward did not escape their attention, or that of their parents.
Enter the NYPD which, as many a cop will tell you, is more than capable of figuratively shooting itself in the foot when it comes to good publicity.
Instead of actively seeking out the teen trio and arranging some kind of ceremony, NYPD gave them the run-around. A 60th Precinct detective told them the reward wasn’t actually NYPD but rather Crime Stoppers—try there.
Meanwhile, someone at Crime Stoppers—which is a public-private partnership between the NYPD and the Police Foundation—told them no, calling 911 doesn’t count. You have to call Crime Stoppers’ 800-577-TIPS line. This statement is absurd, and was treated as such when the New York Post picked up the story on Jan. 17.
One detail the Post overlooked is that the “tip page” on Crime Stoppers’ very own website says, in red letters even: Call 911 if this an emergency or a crime in progress.
Queried by the Post, NYPD’s often diffident press department, known as DCPI, responded: “NYPD Crime Stoppers Program offers cash rewards for anonymous information provided to the 1-800-577-TIPS hotline that leads to the arrest and indictment of a violent felon. This program is supported by the New York Police Foundation and focuses on solving high priority violent crimes.”
Queried by Straus News for a follow-up to that statement, DCPI didn’t respond at all.
The NYC Police Foundation was similarly recalcitrant but, happily, the power of the press had its way, and the very same day, it was announced that the boys would get their rewards.
Indeed, the boys were called by NYPD themselves, a welcome turnabout and one that augurs well for both increased public safety—because people are reassured that doing good deeds can pay off—and a heightened sense of ethics and accountability in the Jessica Tisch-era NYPD.
As for Crime Stoppers, the best way to follow them is on social media: X, Facebook or Instagram.
By comparison, their website is clunky, and at present, its archives are difficult and perhaps impossible to access. This is no minor issue when it comes to unsolved crimes.
Take the Moped Maniac, for example, who on July 23 hit two men on a Hell’s Kitchen sidewalk, punched them both, killing one, a German émigré named Florian Oltmann.
With no easy way to find the suspect’s original Crime Stoppers Wanted Poster, what hope is there that the public might offer the tip that helps NYPD bring Oltmann’s killer to justice?