Photo credit: Gregory-P. Mango, New York Post
(New York, NY) – On the morning of December 22, 2024, a woman later identified as Debrina Kawam, was set on fire by a man while she was sleeping on the subway at the Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue station in Brooklyn. Kawam, who was from Toms River, NJ, had a “brief stint in the homeless shelter system.” The man accused of lighting her on fire, 33-year old illegal immigrant Sebastián Zapeta-Calil, was taken into custody hours after police disseminated images of a suspect in the woman’s death and charged with murder and arson. Prosecutors said he used a lighter to start the fire and then used his shirt to fan the flames. Zapeta did not appear to know the victim and told investigators he was drunk and had no recollection of setting someone on fire.
(Chicago, IL) – Just before 9:30 p.m. on November 17t, 2025, on a CTA blue line train 26 year old Bethany MaGee was attacked by a total stranger. Security video captured the man holding a bottle and approaching the victim, who was sitting with her back to him. It showed him suddenly pouring a liquid over her head and trying to ignite it. MaGee fought him off and then ran toward the front of the train car with the man chasing after her. The man quickly caught up with her and set the woman ablaze. He then “stood watching” as “her body was engulfed in flames. “The woman was “almost fully engulfed in flames” and tried to roll to put out the blaze.
The suspect, 50-year old Lawrence Reed, 50, has a history of mental illness and has been arrested 72 times since he turned 18, most recently in August, when he was charged with aggravated battery after a social worker was struck, Chicago media reported. Federal prosecutors charged Reed with one count of committing a terrorist attack or other violence against a mass transportation system in the Northern District of Illinois. At the court hearing Reed repeatedly yelled “I plead guilty!” as soon as he entered the courtroom. Reed declined counsel and tried to drown out the judge by singing out loud. The judge and the prosecutor agreed Reed should have a mental evaluation. If he is convicted, Reed faces a maximum penalty of life in prison.
(Sylvia, NC) — On November 21, 2025, a North Carolina man is accused of dousing a woman with rubbing alcohol and setting her on fire over a beer. The victim allegedly told Sylva Police Department officers that 56-year-old Patrick Tyson said, “he would set her on fire if she didn’t get him a beer.” Authorities say the fire caused damage to the carpet and the couch, but police noted that only the victim’s shirt was burned during the incident, not her body. Tyson was arrested and is scheduled to appear in court on December 1st.
The following are some elements of Mayor Elect Mamdani’s mental health platform:
Mayor-Elect Zohran Mamdani’s Campaign Mental Health Platform
Excerpts by the Alliance for Rights and Recovery November 6, 2025
“Too many New Yorkers currently experience mental health issues and, with little access to support, suffer in subway stations and on the streets. The task before the city is to provide real solutions for people in need of mental health support. By making the largest-scale commitment to mental health service provision in New York City history, we’re keeping this city—and its streets and subways—safe.
The Department of Community Safety (DCS) will oversee unprecedented City investment in mental health services—prioritizing peer-led programs that are proven to create long-term stability and promote recovery. Every New Yorker will be able to access community-based programs and be met with appropriate help and treatment. The Department of Community Safety will focus on two categories of mental health solutions, augmenting preventative and ongoing care and crisis intervention, for a cost of $362.8M.
AUGMENTING PREVENTATIVE & ONGOING CARE
To provide people with preventative and ongoing care the DCS will:
- Establish a new Community Mental Health Navigators (CMHNs) program across the city—establishing outposts in every neighborhood with CMHNs who can facilitate connections to care The Mamdani administration will hire and deploy Community Mental Health Navigators who are supervised by licensed mental health professionals. CMHNs will provide an outlet for neighbors, parents, or partners who notice someone struggling but who do not know how to intervene. They will provide free education and support for mental health, offer coping skills training, connection to social services, or referrals if necessary.
- Create more Peer Clubhouses and support existing ones
- Peer Clubhouses are peer-led, voluntary rehabilitative programs that provide supportive environments for individuals with serious mental illness to connect with one another, build skills, and participate in activities that run the Clubhouse, fostering recovery and a sense of belonging. Clubhouses have been community “anchors”, successfully addressing mental health issues in New York City for over 75 years
- Allow for smaller clubhouses to flourish, reversing Mayor Adams’ Request for Proposal criteria which restricts smaller programs from receiving city funding
- Expand access to the city’s Youth Mental Health Services, such as Teenspace and Adolescent Skills Centers
- Comprehensively survey existing City programs, including overcoming silos and developing a plan to scale up successful ones (e.g. mobile treatment programs for people with serious mental illness: IMT, ACT, SPACT and FACT)
- Ensure robust inclusion of specific populations, including the LGBTQ+ community
- Cure Violence is a public health-based violence prevention program that treats violence as a public health issue that can be treated, prevented, and ultimately eradicated
