The Justice Department charged a man with committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system after he allegedly fatally stabbed a Ukrainian refugee on a North Carolina commuter train last month, meaning he could face the death penalty.
Officials announced the charge against 34-year-old Decarlos Brown Jr. on Tuesday, with U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi stating, "he will never again see the light of day as a free man.”
Brown was previously charged with first-degree murder by local authorities in Charlotte after he was accused of pulling out a knife and killing 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska on the city's light rail in an apparently random attack captured on video.
The incident, which took place on Aug. 22, gained national attention amid questions and concerns about why Brown was on the street despite 14 prior criminal cases.
According to the local NBC-affiliated station, WCNC, the Charlotte Area Regional Transit said that Brown did not have a ticket to ride the train, and there was also no security present in the car where the attack happened.
The case has become the latest flashpoint in the debate over whether cities such as Charlotte are adequately addressing violent crime, mental illness and transit safety.
Zarutska's obituary stated she was born in Kyiv, but she emigrated from Ukraine to the United States in 2022 with her mother, sister and brother to escape the war.
U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina Russ Ferguson became visibly emotional during a press conference on Tuesday announcing the federal charge in the case.
He said he had just spoken with Zarutska's family on the phone before the presser and learned they were living in a bomb shelter before coming to the U.S.
"She was coming home from work on a light rail train, like all of us do all the time, and she was brutally murdered," said Ferguson.
FBI Special Agent Jim Barnacle also spoke at the press conference, stating that Zarutska had built a life in Charlotte by making friends and getting a job on the first day she was permitted to do so.
"She worked at a senior citizen center. She worked at a pizza place. She took care of animals in the neighborhood," said Barnacle. "She was building her young life. She had recently moved in with her partner."
RELATED STORY | Video captures fatal stabbing of Ukrainian refugee on Charlotte light rail in North Carolina
On Friday, transit officials released surveillance video of the horrific crime, showing the two had no interaction before the stabbing occurred.
In the video, Zarutska appeared to board the train alone in her work uniform and sit in front of Brown with her back to him while she was looking down at her phone. Four minutes later, according to officials, Brown appears to pull out a pocket knife and toy with it in his hand before abruptly standing up and attacking her.
Ferguson said the video gave his office a basis for the federal charge. "No one should sit in fear when they sit on the light rail," he said.
According to The Associated Press, Brown had cycled through the criminal justice system for more than a decade, with 14 prior cases in Mecklenburg County, including serving five years for robbery with a dangerous weapon, according to court records. He was arrested earlier this year after repeatedly calling 911 from a hospital, claiming people were trying to control him. A judge released him without bail.
The Associated Press reported his mother told local television she sought an involuntary psychiatric commitment this year after he became violent at home. Doctors diagnosed him with schizophrenia.
Bondi said the killing was "a direct result of failed soft-on-crime policies that put criminals before innocent people."
