Federal prosecutors in North Carolina have charged a man suspected of fatally stabbing a Ukrainian refugee, which has become a flashpoint in the debate about crime in Democratic-run cities.
Decarlos Brown Jr., 34, was charged on Tuesday with one count of committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system. Brown was already facing a first-degree murder charge from state authorities for the attack on Iryna Zarutska , who was stabbed in the neck on Aug. 22 while aboard a commuter light rail in Charlotte, N.C.
The federal charge carries a maximum sentence of life in prison or death. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said on Tuesday, “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.”
The case caught the attention of President Trump after surveillance video showed Zarutska’s killer quietly unfold a pocketknife and strike her from behind. The video also spurred the FBI to seek federal charges, according to Special Agent in Charge James Barnacle.
“I was horrified like everyone else when I saw it,” Barnacle said. He said the charges were in line with the FBI’s new priority under director Kash Patel to investigate violent crime.
U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina Russ Ferguson said that while the “act itself doesn’t scream federal crime,” the resulting fear that reverberated through Charlotte commuters warranted the additional charge.
“It’s a terroristic act to make people afraid to go about their daily lives,” Ferguson said.
A lawyer for Brown didn’t respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.
Zarutska, who held a degree in art and restoration from a college in Kyiv, left a bomb shelter in war-torn Ukraine and moved to Charlotte where she worked at a pizza parlor and senior citizens’ center, cared for local animals and lived with her partner, according to authorities.
Zarutska’s family declined consular assistance to repatriate her remains to Ukraine because “she loved America.” They intend to bury her in the U.S., according to Ferguson.
Trump in a social-media post on Tuesday called Zarutska a “beautiful young girl” with “a magnificent future in this country.” He also linked her death to criminal justice policies of Democrat-run cities such as Charlotte and Chicago.
Brown’s criminal history includes state felony convictions for armed robbery, larceny, and breaking and entering, court documents show.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Zarutska’s death was “entirely preventable,” but that courts failed to account for Brown’s violent criminal history in releasing him from jail prior to the attack.
“This monster should have been locked up and Iryna should still be alive but Democrat politicians, liberal judges and weak prosecutors would rather virtue-signal than lock up criminals and protect their communities,” Leavitt told reporters.
Republican members of North Carolina’s congressional delegation signed a letter on Tuesday calling for Magistrate Judge Teresa Stokes to be fired after she freed Brown in January when he faced misdemeanor charges for misusing 911.
“Her decision has undermined public confidence in the judicial system and exposed the community to wholly preventable harm,” the letter read.
On Monday, nearly three weeks after the fatal stabbing, Charlotte’s Democratic Mayor Vi Lyles said Zarutska’s death was a “tragic failure by the courts and magistrates” and called for bipartisan legislation to stop repeat offenders who she said don’t face consequences for their actions.
