From the Daily Caller News Foundation

By Jason Hopkins

Local law enforcement said they finally identified the woman burned alive while riding on a New York City subway car earlier in December, ending days of public speculation.

Debrina Kawam, a 61-year-old woman from Toms River, New Jersey, is the individual who was burned alive while riding the F train in Brooklyn on the morning of Dec. 21, the New York Police Department (NYPD) confirmed to the Daily Caller News Foundation. The man charged with the attack is Sebastian Zapeta-Calil, a 33-year old previously deported Guatemalan national who is living in the United States unlawfully.

After days of law enforcement failing to identify the victim and no apparent family or friends coming forward, some speculated that the victim may have been homeless. The NYPD on Tuesday gave no further details about Kawam beyond her name, age and home address.

The gruesome details of the attack sparked national media coverage, and once again spotlighted the issue of illegal migrant crime in the U.S.

Investigators believe Kawam was sleeping on the train when Zapeta walked up to her and used a match to light her clothes on fire, which quickly became fully engulfed in flames. The illegal migrant then allegedly remained on scene, sitting on a bench platform, to watch her die from her injuries.

“As the train pulled into the station, the suspect calmly walked up to the victim who was in a seated position at the end of the subway car,” New York City Police Commissioner Jessica Tisch stated during a press conference shortly after the incident. “The suspect used what we believe to be a lighter to ignite the victim’s clothing, which became fully engulfed in a matter of seconds.”

Local police who were on patrol at an upper level of that train station went to investigate after they smelled and saw smoke, according to Tisch, who described the attack  as “one of the most depraved crimes one person could possibly commit” against another human being. Upon their arrival to the scene, officers discovered the victim standing in the train fully engulfed in fire, and made attempts to put the fire out.

Zapeta was apprehended by the NYPD later that day after witnesses had spotted him, and he was caught with a lighter in his pocket. It was later revealed that, while Kawam was on fire, he allegedly intentionally fanned the flames by waving a shirt over her.

An Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) spokesperson confirmed to the DCNF that Zapeta is an illegal migrant who had already been deported from the country years prior.

“U.S. Border Patrol in Sonoita, Arizona, encountered Zapeta June 1, 2018, and served him with an order of expedited removal and Enforcement and Removal Operations removed Zapeta from the U.S. to Guatemala June 7, 2018,” the agency stated to the DCNF. “Zapeta unlawfully reentered the United States on an unknown date and location.”

The Guatemalan national has since been charged with first and second degree murder and arson. He is due to be arraigned on Jan.7, 2025.

Surveillance photos, Gateway Hotel, El Paso County Attorney’s Office

From The Center Square

By Bethany Blankley 

Of the more than 14 million illegal border crossers reported under the Biden administration, an unknown number of violent Venezuelan Tren de Aragua prison gang members illegally entered the country.

Now, police records and official law enforcement statements confirm TdA-linked crime and arrests have occurred in 22 U.S. states.

They include Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin and Wyoming. TdA activity also has been reported in the District of Columbia.

TdA is known for violence, murder, kidnapping, extortion, bribery and human and drug trafficking and are linked to more than 100 law enforcement investigations nationwide. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security is currently looking for 600 suspected TdA members and “subjects of interest” illegally in the U.S., NBC News reported.

While TdA is likely operating in nearly all U.S. states, local police reports and official public statements have yet to confirm this. Federal and state agencies have issued bulletins to law enforcement partners on how to identify TdA members.

In the West: TdA members have been arrested in Arizona, California, Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Wyoming, The Center Square reported. In New Mexico, federal agents arrested TdA fugitives wanted for capital murder and aggravated kidnapping in Texas.

Multiple crimes have been committed by illegal border crossers in California, including residential burglaries allegedly committed by Colombians and Chileans involved in a South American theft group (SATG), The Center Square reported. While several social media reports appear to confuse TdA with SATG, police reports have yet to confirm TdA affiliation with SATG crimes.

Border Patrol and other federal agents in Arizona, California, Florida, New Mexico and Texas continue to arrest TdA and other violent gang members.

In the Midwest: TdA members were arrested for violent crimes in Illinois, Indiana, Missouri and Wisconsin, with law enforcement officers in Ohio involved in a multi-state ATM theft investigation, The Center Square reported.

TdA members were arrested this year for the first time in North and South Dakota and in Missouri, prompting state and federal lawmakers to demand answers and introduce legislation, The Center Square exclusively reported.

In Gulf states: TdA members have been arrested in Texas and Louisiana. In Louisiana, they’re tied to a multi-state sex trafficking operation involving smuggling women into the U.S., holding them in stash houses in Louisiana, Florida, New Jersey, Texas and Virginia, and forcing them into prostitution, authorities found, The Center Square reported.

In Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott declared TdA a foreign terrorist organization and state and local law enforcement are actively working to target and eliminate them in multiple operations.

TdA crime in Texas is linked to a multi-state investigation into an ATM bank robbery scheme, sex trafficking rings and other violent crimes.

In the Southeast: TdA members were arrested in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia, charged with multiple felonies. In North Carolina, law enforcement officers arrested a TdA lieutenant and fugitive wanted by Interpol on terrorism related charges. In Tennessee, TdA members were arrested in a sex trafficking ring operating in multiple states. Tennesee’s attorney general argues federal agents are releasing “murderers and rapists from its migrant detention facilities onto American streets,” The Center Square reported.

In the Northeast: TdA members were arrested in New Jersey and New York for a slew of violent crimes, including a recent murder in Connecticut. Arrests are for multiple felonies including fugitives wanted in their home countries, The Center Square reported.

Several on social media appear to confuse SATF with TdA. Some claim SATG robberies targeting NFL and NBA players in Michigan and Minnesota are TdA when no confirmed TdA arrests have been reported.

Although TdA has established a stronghold in Colombia, Chile and Peru, authorities have yet to confirm TdA affiliation when making SATG announcements. Many investigations are ongoing and SATG culprits remain at large.

SATG operatives target wealthy neighborhoods, burglarize homes and quickly leave the scene. TdA operatives entrench themselves in migrant communities, perpetrate human trafficking, forced prostitution, aggravated assault and murder, among other violent crimes.

The underlying commonality is they illegally entered the U.S. under the Biden administration and are identified as top targets for removal by the Trump administration.