FIRST ON FOX: 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.”

“The brutal attack on Iryna Zarutska on the Charlotte light rail was a disgraceful act that should never happen in America,” FBI Director Kash Patel said. “The FBI jumped to assist in this investigation immediately to ensure justice is served, and the perpetrator is never released from jail to kill again. I want to thank Attorney General Bondi for her pursuit of today’s federal charges, which are the first step toward delivering justice for Iryna and her family – as well as the millions of Americans who deserve to live in our great American cities free from being targeted by violent criminals.”

James C. Barnacle Jr., the FBI Charlotte special agent in charge, said he hopes the federal charge will “help bring her family a measure of justice.”

“Iryna Zarutska had likely taken that train ride many times before. She was probably tired after a day at work and just wanted to go home, but tragically she never made it,” he said Tuesday. “We hope this federal charge will help bring her family a measure of justice and the courts will hold the subject charged in this horrific act accountable. Everyone in this country deserves to go to work, to school or just across town without fear of being attacked.”

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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

In a Tuesday press conference, Barnacle highlighted Zarutska’s story as an immigrant who fled war only to meet tragedy in America.

“Even more tragic, she chose to come to Charlotte to escape the violence of her war-torn home in Ukraine. She made friends. She immediately got a job the first day she was allowed to work, and she got a work permit here. She worked at a senior citizens center, at a pizza place, and she took care of animals in the neighborhood. She was building her young life. She had recently moved in with her partner. Her family let us know she graduated from college in Kiev with a degree in art and restoration. We don’t know the extent of what obstacles she faced in Ukraine, other than we did learn just a few moments ago that she was living in a bomb shelter.”

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.”

‘She loved America’

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.”

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.

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President Donald Trump seized on the case, calling Brown a “lunatic” and using the killing to push for tougher sentencing policies and stronger federal intervention. On Monday, Patel wrote: “The FBI has been investigating the Charlotte train murder from day one. Stay tuned.”

Zarutska fled Ukraine with her family in 2022 to escape the war before settling in Charlotte, according to her obituary. She was working at a local pizzeria, Zepeddie’s Pizza, at the time of her death and was captured on the train’s surveillance camera wearing her work uniform.

Her family described Zarutska as a passionate artist and graduate of Synergy College in Kyiv, where she earned a degree in art and restoration. She was remembered for her creativity, her love of animals, her determination and her eagerness to learn.