Federal authorities announced Tuesday that Decarlos Dejuan Brown Jr., the suspect in the stabbing death of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a North Carolina train, has been federally charged with one count of committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said that the DOJ will seek the maximum penalty for Brown, saying that the Aug. 22 attack was a “direct result of failed soft-on-crime policies that put criminals before innocent people.”
“I have directed my attorneys to federally prosecute DeCarlos Brown Jr., a repeat violent offender with a history of violent crime, for murder,” she said. “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.”
Brown was previously charged with first-degree murder in state court for allegedly stabbing Zarutska, 23, to death aboard a Charlotte light-rail train on Aug. 22.
Read the federal complaint here
{snip}
Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, said that Zarutska had fled war-torn Ukraine for a better life in America.
“She is a refugee. She literally came to the United States from a bomb shelter in Ukraine to escape the war. And she was going about her day. She was coming home from work on a light rail train, like all of us do all the time. And she was brutally murdered,” Ferguson said. “But I’m here today to announce that we are going to supplement those state charges with federal charges. These federal charges will go alongside the murder case in state court. We hope that they will ensure justice for Iryna, for her family and for the whole Charlotte community.”
Ferguson added that prosecutors will seek the maximum penalty — life without parole with investigators looking into if the death penalty can be pursued.
“The victim suffered wounds to her neck and hands. He walked from the train with blood dripping from the knife.”
{snip}
In an emotional moment in the Tuesday press conference, Ferguson recounted what Zarutska’s family told authorities:
“After Iryna’s death, the embassy in Ukraine called and said, ‘We’ll help you bring her home.’ But her family said no. They told us she loved America, and they wanted to bury her here. So I think we can give her an America to be proud of. As Mr. Barnacle said, something here is broken, and we’re here to fix it.”
{snip}
Surveillance video from the LYNX Blue Line captured the moments before the attack, which police described as “seemingly unprovoked.” Court documents obtained by Fox News Digital say that Brown took out a folding knife and stabbed Zarutska, who was still dressed in her pizzeria uniform, three times.
Brown is no stranger to the justice system. Court and prison records examined by Fox News Digital show that he has been convicted of crimes spanning a decade. By the time of Zarutska’s killing, Brown had racked up 14 arrests over the years but was no longer under state supervision.
His convictions include larceny and breaking and entering in 2013, as well as a 2015 conviction for robbery with a dangerous weapon, for which he served more than six years in prison. He was released in 2020 and remained on parole until 2021. More recent charges included communicating threats and misuse of the 911 system earlier this year.
{snip}
The post DOJ Hits Train Stabbing Suspect With Federal Charge as FBI Investigates On-Camera Attack appeared first on American Renaissance.
American Renaissance
