The suspect in the fatal stabbing of a Ukrainian woman on Charlotte’s light rail system late last month is now facing federal charges that would make him eligible for the death penalty, according to the Justice Department.
Decarlos Brown Jr., 34, who was arrested on Aug. 22 after he fatally stabbed 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska, was charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of North Carolina with committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system, which could make him eligible for the death penalty, the DOJ said on Tuesday.
“This brutal attack on an innocent woman simply trying to get to her destination is an attack on the American way of life. Of course, crimes like this affect the victim the most — Iryna deserves justice, and we will bring justice to her and her family,” U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson said in a statement on Tuesday.
Iryna Zarutska in a photo posted to her Instagram.
Iryna Zarutska/Instagram
During a press conference on Tuesday, Ferguson described the incident as a “terroristic act” and said he and North Carolina FBI Special Agent James Barnacle Jr. spoke to Zarutska’s mother and uncle to alert them of the federal charges. Ferguson said the family is “suffering like any of us would be.”
“No one should sit in fear while on the light rail,” Ferguson said as he held back tears.
The charges come after Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles said the city is now increasing security on commuter trains “effective immediately,” as the attack continues to spark outrage among elected officials.
“As I reflect on the tragic murder of Iryna Zarutska my heart continues to go out to her family and our community as we try to make sense of this horrific and senseless loss,” Lyles said in a statement Monday evening.
Zartuska, who was previously living in a bomb shelter in Ukraine before coming to the U.S., was stabbed while riding the Lynx Blue Line in Charlotte, according to an affidavit obtained by ABC News. She had just finished work and was on her way home when she was “brutally murdered,” Ferguson said.
The recent release of the attack on video has caused national outrage, with U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy saying the department is investigating the city and “its failure to protect Iryna Zarutska.”
“If mayors can’t keep their trains and buses safe, they don’t deserve the taxpayers’ money,” Duffy said in a post shared to X on Monday.
North Carolina Gov. Josh Stein also said he was “appalled” the the unprovoked murder.
“We need more cops on the beat to keep people safe,” Stein said in a statement on Monday.
This comes after the Charlotte Area Transit System, or CATS, confirmed to ABC News there was not security on board the train at the time of the attack, with a spokesperson saying a security team “patrols the system, they are not stationed in one area.”
“At the time of the incident they were riding on a train directly in front of where the incident occurred,” a spokesperson for CATS told ABC News.
Lyles said “effective immediately” CATS security personnel will be “re-deployed for a stronger presence on Blue Line platforms” and police will also be “increasing patrols at key areas across the transit system.”
“Residents across our community and visitors to our region depend on public transit. We owe it to them to make sure our public transit system and our city are safe and secure,” Lyles said.
Iryna Zarutska, who is not pictured, was stabbed to death in an unprovoked attack while riding the light rail in Charlotte, North Carolina, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
Charlotte Area Transit System
CATS will also be rolling out “new safety operations including bike units and urban terrain vehicles” over the next two to three weeks, Lyles said.
Zarutska boarded the train on the night of Aug. 22 and sat in an aisle seat directly in front of the suspect, 34-year-old Decarlos Brown Jr., who is seen in a window seat wearing an orange sweatshirt.
The train travels for “approximately four and a half minutes before the suspect pulls a knife out of his pocket, unfolds the knife, pauses, then stands up, and strikes at the victim three times,” according to the affidavit obtained by ABC News.
Prior to the stabbing, there appeared to be “no interaction between the victim and the defendant,” the affidavit said.
Zarutska was pronounced dead at the scene and a witness directed officials to the location of the suspect, the affidavit said.
Decarlos Brown Jr., 34, was arrested on Aug. 22 for stabbing a 23-year-old woman on Charlotte’s light rail, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department
Brown was arrested after he was released from the hospital with “non-life-threatening injuries sustained at the time of the incident” and was charged with first-degree murder, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
The 34-year-old suspect has a criminal record including larceny and breaking and entering charges. He also spent five years in prison for robbery with a dangerous weapon starting in 2015, according to the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction.
In total, Brown has been charged 14 times in the past, including an arrest in January, but was “still on the streets” leading up to the attack, Barnacle said.
Brown’s next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 19, according to court records. It is unclear whether Brown has an attorney who can speak on his behalf.
Barnacle and Ferguson said they have not spoken to the White House about Brown’s federal charges.
Officials said Zarutska, who had worked at a senior citizen center, a pizza place, took care of animals in the neighborhood and had just recently moved in with her partner, will be buried in the United States, even after the Ukrainian Embassy reached out to her family.
“No she loved America, we will bury her here,” her family said, according to Ferguson.
ABC News’ Alexander Mallin contributed to this report.
