FBI prices suspect in Ukrainian refugee’s Charlotte practice stabbing dying

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FIRST ON FOX: The FBI introduced Tuesday that Decarlos Dejuan Brown Jr., the suspect within the stabbing dying of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a North Carolina practice, has been federally charged with one rely of committing an act inflicting dying on a mass transportation system.

"The brutal assault on Iryna Zarutska on the Charlotte Mild Rail was a disgraceful act that ought to by no means occur in America," FBI Director Kash Patel mentioned. "The FBI jumped to help on this investigation instantly to make sure justice is served, and the perpetrator is rarely launched from jail to kill once more. I wish to thank Legal professional Basic [Pam] Bondi for her pursuit of as we speak’s federal prices, that are step one towards delivering justice for Iryna and her household – in addition to the hundreds of thousands of People who should dwell in our nice American cities free from being focused by violent criminals."

Bondi mentioned that the Division of Justice will search the utmost penalty for Brown, saying that the Aug. 22 assault was a "direct results of failed soft-on-crime insurance policies that put criminals earlier than harmless folks."

"I've directed my attorneys to federally prosecute DeCarlos Brown Jr., a repeat violent offender with a historical past of violent crime, for homicide," she mentioned. "We are going to search the utmost penalty for this unforgivable act of violence — he won't ever once more see the sunshine of day as a free man."

Brown, 34, is accused of fatally stabbing Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte light-rail practice and now faces each state homicide prices and newly introduced federal prices. (Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Workplace (MCSO) | AP Pictures)

James C. Barnacle Jr., the FBI Charlotte Particular Agent in Cost, mentioned that he hopes the federal cost will "assist deliver her household a measure of justice."

"Iryna Zarutska had probably taken that practice experience many instances earlier than. She was in all probability drained after a day at work and simply wished to go dwelling, however tragically she by no means made it," he mentioned Tuesday. "We hope this federal cost will assist deliver her household a measure of justice and the courts will maintain the topic charged on this horrific act accountable. Everybody on this nation deserves to go to work, to highschool, or simply throughout city with out worry of being attacked."

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Brown was beforehand charged with first-degree homicide in state court docket for allegedly stabbing Zarutska, 23, to dying aboard a Charlotte light-rail practice on Aug. 22.

Learn the federal criticism here Surveillance video from the LYNX Blue Line captured the moments earlier than the assault, which police described as "seemingly unprovoked." Court docket paperwork obtained by Fox Information Digital say that Brown took out a folding knife and stabbed Zarutska, who was nonetheless wearing her pizzeria uniform, thrice.

Brown isn't any stranger to the justice system. Court docket and jail data examined by Fox Information Digital present that he has been convicted of crimes spanning a decade. By the point of Zarutska’s killing, Brown had racked up 14 arrests through the years however was now not under state supervision .

His convictions embody larceny and breaking and coming into in 2013, in addition to a 2015 conviction for theft with a harmful weapon, for which he served greater than six years in jail. He was launched in 2020 and remained on parole till 2021. Newer prices included speaking threats and misuse of the 911 system earlier this 12 months.

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President Donald Trump seized on the case, calling Brown a "lunatic" and utilizing the killing to push for more durable sentencing insurance policies and stronger federal intervention. On Monday, FBI Director Kash Patel wrote: "The FBI has been investigating the Charlotte practice homicide from day one. Keep tuned."

Ukrainian Iryna Zarutska got here to the U.S. to flee warfare however was stabbed to dying in Charlotte on Friday, Aug. 22. (Evgeniya Rush/GoFundMe)

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Zarutska fled Ukraine together with her household in 2022 to flee the warfare earlier than settling in Charlotte, in accordance with her obituary. She was working at a neighborhood pizzeria, Zepeddie's Pizza, on the time of her dying and was captured on the practice's surveillance digital camera sporting her work uniform.

Her household described Zarutska as a passionate artist and graduate of Synergy Faculty in Kyiv, the place she earned a level in artwork and restoration. She was remembered for her creativity, her love of animals, her willpower and her eagerness to be taught.