WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — The Justice Department announced a federal crime charge against the suspect in the fatal stabbing of Iryna Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee.
On top of state charges, Decarlos Brown Jr., 34, has been charged with one count of committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system.
FBI, DOT announce investigation
The charges come after the FBI was announced as one of several federal agencies investigating Zarutska’s death on a North Carolina transit system last month, Director Kash Patel confirmed this week.
Patel wrote on X Monday that the bureau had been involved “from day one,” urging the public to “stay tuned.”
Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy also announced his department would be investigating the case, vowing that “ZERO tax dollars go to soft-on-crime transit systems that allow horrific tragedies like what happened in Charlotte.”
Murders on public transit like that of Iryna Zarutska should never be allowed to happen again,” he added.
House Speaker Mike Johnson echoed that sentiment, calling the attack evidence of failed policies. “Republicans are in charge, and those days are over—the days of allowing soft-on-crime policies. We’re not going to do it,” he said Tuesday.
Iryna Zarutska’s death
Zarutska, who came to the United States following the Russian invasion of her country, was attacked on her way home from work close to 10 p.m. on Aug. 22, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
Surveillance video released by Charlotte Area Transit shows the woman boarding a light rail Lynx car and sitting down in front of a man, identified as 34-year-old Decarlos Brown Jr. After nearly five minutes, the video shows Brown pulling out a folding knife and attacking her.
Police said he stabbed Zarutska three times, including a fatal blow to the neck, before walking the length of the train and exiting. Transit police arrived within minutes, but she was pronounced dead.
Brown, who police say is homeless and has a criminal record, was arrested and charged with murder.
During a press briefing Tuesday, White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said President Donald Trump is looking at taking away federal funds from states and cities that have cashless bail systems in place.
“Decarlos Brown never should have been on that train that night; in fact, he should have been behind bars,” Leavitt said. “This is madness.”
Trump has also weighed in on the killing, writing on Truth Social that he had seen the “horrific video” of Zarutska’s killing, calling it the ambush of “a beautiful, young Ukrainian refugee” by “a mentally deranged lunatic.”