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FIRST ON FOX: The House Judiciary Committee plans to hold a field hearing in Charlotte, North Carolina, this month following the fatal stabbing of a young woman on the city’s light rail that sparked heated debate about criminal justice reform.
The remote hearing is scheduled for the morning of Sept. 29, Fox News Digital has learned, and will highlight recent criminal activity in Charlotte.
News of the hearing comes after Iryna Zarutska’s murder on Aug. 22 captured national attention. Chilling surveillance footage showed a suspect who was sitting behind Zarutska stand up and strike her with a pocket knife several times. Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee who was on her way home from work at the time of the incident, died on the train from her injuries, authorities said.
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Iryna Zarutska curls up in fear as a man looms over her during a disturbing attack on a Charlotte, N.C., light rail train. (NewsNation via Charlotte Area Transit System)
The Department of Justice charged the suspect, Decarlos Dejuan Brown Jr., in federal court. Brown had prior arrests dating back more than a decade and once served time for a robbery. Attorney General Pam Bondi said Brown will be prosecuted for murder and said “soft-on-crime policies” caused Zarutska’s death.
“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. “I have directed my attorneys to federally prosecute Decarlos Brown Jr., a repeat violent offender with a history of violent crime, for murder.”
All House Judiciary Committee members are able to attend the hearing. The panel’s subcommittee on oversight will lead it.
The hearing was scheduled prior to another shocking crime event — the assassination of prolific conservative activist Charlie Kirk, which took place at Utah Valley University last week.
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A side-by-side of Iryna Zarutska and a light rail platform in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Associated Press)
The field hearing marks the latest instance of the committee visiting Democrat-led cities to highlight grim crime rates and prosecutorial failures. The committee visited Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s jurisdiction in April 2023, a week after Bragg brought criminal charges against then-former President Donald Trump. The committee held a similar hearing in Chicago later that year.
Lawmakers at the hearings have examined prosecutorial policies, such as cashless bail, and highlighted recidivism and stories from victims and their families.
Charging and trying defendants in Charlotte comes under the purview of Mecklenburg County District Attorney Spencer B. Merriweather III, an appointee of North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat.
House Judiciary Chairman Jim Jordan, R-Ohio, listens during a hearing with the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government on Capitol Hill on July 20, 2023, in Washington, D.C. (Anna Moneymaker/Getty Images)
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Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., confirmed the hearing in a statement to Fox News Digital, saying Zarutska’s death was a “culmination of years of failed liberal policies that put criminals ahead of victims.”
“This was entirely preventable, and we owe it to the people to fix it before another innocent life is lost,” Van Drew said.
Fox News Digital reached out to Merriweather’s office for comment.
