WASHINGTON (AP) — The Justice Department on Tuesday charged a man accused of fatally stabbing a Ukrainian refugee on a North Carolina commuter train last month with a federal crime that could carry the death penalty.
The federal charge comes amid growing questions about why Decarlos Brown Jr. was on the street despite 14 prior criminal arrests before he was accused of pulling out a knife and killing 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska in an apparently random attack captured on video.
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. The Trump administration says the killing shows how local leaders, judges, and policies in Democratic-led cities are failing to protect their residents from violent crime.
“Iryna Zarutska was a young woman living the American dream — her horrific murder is a direct result of failed soft-on-crime policies that put criminals before innocent people,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “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.”
Zarutska had been living in a bomb shelter in Ukraine before coming to the U.S. to escape the war, according to relatives, who described her as determined to build a safer life.
Video released Friday shows Zarutska entering a light-rail train on Aug. 22 and taking a seat in front of Brown, who was seated behind her. Minutes later, without any apparent interaction, he pulls out a pocketknife, stands, and slashes her in the neck, investigators said. Passengers scream and scatter as she collapses.
He is charged federally with causing death on a mass transportation system, which carries up to life in prison or the death penalty. Russ Ferguson, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, said additional charges could be brought as the investigation continues.
