Washington -- The Justice Department on Tuesday filed a federal criminal charge against the man accused of the deadly stabbing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte, North Carolina, last month.
The Justice Department announced that the suspect in the attack, Decarlos Brown Jr., is charged with one count of committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system.
"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," Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. "I have directed my attorneys to federally prosecute DeCarlos Brown Jr., a repeat violent offender with a history of violent crime, for murder. 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 Justice Department said the charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison or death. Federal judges are responsible for imposing sentences after conviction.
The attack, which occurred on Aug. 22, has garnered increased attention in recent days, with President Trump and his allies claiming the attack shows Democratic-run cities and states are failing to protect their residents.
"The most enraging and unacceptable part of the story is that her death was entirely preventable. Decarlos Brown never should have been on that train that night," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said Tuesday.
Surveillance footage showed Zarutska entering a light rail car on Aug. 22 and sitting in a row in front of Brown. Four minutes later, Brown allegedly pulled a knife from his pocket and struck Zarutska three times from behind, according to an FBI affidavit accompanying the criminal complaint.
Police found Zarutska dead on the light rail with a single stab wound in the middle of her neck and a small cut on her left knee, the affidavit said. Brown was apprehended at the scene.
Russ Ferguson, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, became emotional in the news conference announcing the charge against Brown, who is currently in state custody on first-degree murder charges.
"This is obviously a horrible, horrible situation," Ferguson said. "This is why federal statutes exist. They exist to take care of situations like this, because no one should sit in fear when they sit on the light rail."
Ferguson said the surveillance video gave prosecutors "the basis for federal charges here."
"The act itself doesn't scream federal crime," he said. "But when we started to see the effects of that act, and we saw the public saying, 'We're not riding the light rail anymore, we're afraid to go to the park,' that's when my mind and my office started saying ... this might be a federal charge."
FBI special agent James Barnacle Jr. said "there is potential for other federal charges" in the case.
Zarutska's relatives have said the 23-year-old came to the U.S. with to escape Russia's war in Ukraine. Justice Department officials said Zarutska was living in a bomb shelter in Ukraine before moving.
"I hope the family won't mind me sharing. But after Iryna's death, the Embassy in Ukraine called and said, 'We'll help you bring her home.' And her family said, 'No.' They said, 'She loved America. We're going to bury her here,'" Ferguson said.
Brown has a long criminal history, including serving five years in prison for robbery with a dangerous weapon, and had been diagnosed with schizophrenia, according to The Associated Press. Brown's mother told a local television station she recently sought an involuntary psychiatric commitment after he became violent at home, the AP reported.