The Trump administration stepped into a highly publicized murder case in Charlotte, North Carolina, on Tuesday by filing federal charges against the repeat offender suspect.
DeCarlos Brown, 34, is charged with committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system, making him eligible for the death penalty if convicted, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced. The agency slammed Democrat-led cities’ “soft-on-crime” policies after Brown, a mentally ill homeless man with at least 14 prior arrests, allegedly stabbed Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a public train in an Aug. 22 incident.
“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,” Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement.
Zarutska, 23, was seen on video sitting in front of Brown on the Charlotte train at night without interacting with him, and Brown stood up and raised his arm with a knife just before the publicly released footage ended. The suspect was heard on video saying, “I got that white girl,” in a later clip while waiting to leave the train.
Brown had been released from jail in January on a “written notice to appear” despite his lengthy criminal record that included felony larceny, robbery with a dangerous weapon, and communicating threats. He had been arrested for allegedly misusing the 911 system by calling to claim that something was controlling when he walked, talked and ate. Brown had previously been diagnosed with schizophrenia.
An attorney for Brown did not respond to the Daily Caller News Foundation’s request for comment.
“Ultimately, his sentence will be determined by the Court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors,” the DOJ said.
“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,” Bondi said.
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