The Justice Department charged the man accused of fatally stabbing a Ukrainian refugee on a Charlotte light rail train with a federal crime on Tuesday, the latest escalation in a case that has sparked national scrutiny over what led to the fatal attack.
DeCarlos Brown Jr., 34, was charged Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Charlotte with committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system. The charge stems from the Aug. 22 killing of Iryna Zarutska, a 23-year-old woman who boarded the Lynx Blue Line moments before she was allegedly attacked from behind by Brown, and could carry up to life in prison or the death penalty if convicted.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said the case underscored the consequences of “failed soft-on-crime policies” and vowed to seek the most aggressive punishment possible.
“We will seek the maximum penalty for this unforgivable act of violence — he will never again see the light of day as a free man,” Bondi said.
FBI Director Kash Patel called the stabbing “a disgraceful act that should never happen in America,” and said the bureau immediately offered support to local investigators. Patel preempted the federal indictment in a post to X Monday evening, saying the FBI has been “investigating the Charlotte train murder from day one.”
An affidavit in support of the criminal complaint said Zarutska was found by authorities with a “single stab wound in the middle of her neck,” a cut to her left knee, and was discovered next to a “large amount of blood.” The affidavit said the weapon Brown allegedly used on the victim was a foldable pocket knife.
The federal charge against Brown, who is also facing a first-degree murder count at the state level, keeps open the option of capital punishment for the defendant. Although the death penalty is legal in the Tar Heel State, there has been a 20-year moratorium on capital punishment, and the last person executed by the state was in 2006.
The Trump administration has vehemently condemned the attack and has called it a broader symptom of the wider crime epidemic in major cities across the country. President Donald Trump expressed his sympathy for Zarutska’s family on Monday, noting that in footage of the attack, “she’s just sitting there” the moment before surveillance video captured the suspect stabbing her in the neck.
Surveillance footage reviewed by investigators shows Zarutska seated in front of Brown on the train at approximately 9:55 p.m. on Aug. 22 before he pulled a knife from his pocket and stabbed her three times without provocation. She died at the scene. Brown, who was previously released by a Mecklenburg County judge on a written promise to appear for a separate misdemeanor charge, was arrested on the light rail platform moments later.
JUDGE WHO RELEASED CHARLOTTE LIGHT RAIL KILLER HAS HISTORY OF ADDICTION ACTIVISM
Additional footage from the video, which circulated widely online Tuesday, shows that Zarutska’s death was not immediate, revealing her horrified and shocked reaction to having been stabbed, before collapsing to the floor beneath her seat. In the video, bystanders on the train watch as Brown walks away from the crime scene inside the moving light rail car.
If convicted, Brown faces life in prison or the death penalty, based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other factors during his trial. Interim U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson said federal prosecution was necessary to “protect the public and ensure confidence in our transportation systems.”
