In a special hearing in Charlotte, members of Congress heard from families who were affected by alleged repeat offenders.
Families of the victims of violent crime shared their pain with members of Congress during a special field hearing in Charlotte, North Carolina.
On Sept. 29, families of victims and others affected by crime in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Columbia, South Carolina, told members of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight about losing family members while their accused killers walk free or face relatively few consequences.
They testified that their pain was magnified by what they perceived as a lack of justice, and pleaded for stronger enforcement of existing laws and accountability from the justice system.
The hearing “Victims of Violent Crime” is part of a series of field sessions meant to highlight the issue of crime in America’s cities. The Monday hearing was inspired by the significant national reaction to the murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on the Charlotte light rail system in August.
The testimony showed that Zarutska’s murder fits a pattern in Charlotte. Multiple witnesses shared stories of how their lives were altered by the actions of a criminal who was free on bail. Zarutska’s alleged killer, Decarlos Brown Jr., 34, had been arrested more than a dozen times and was released by a magistrate without any bond earlier this year on a misdemeanor count.
Mia Alderman told the subcommittee how her granddaughter Mary Collins was “sadistically tortured” and “brutally murdered” in 2020. Collins was stabbed more than 130 times and left to bleed out in a bathtub, and then her body was wrapped in plastic and stuffed into a mattress.
To date, Alderman said, most of the suspects accused of killing Collins have not faced significant jail time for their alleged role in the crime.
“Our families have now endured more than five years of waiting, and still her case has not gone to trial,” Alderman said. “Every day of delay deepens the wound for our family and makes a mockery of accountability.”
The grandmother said the same system that failed Zarutska failed Collins by allowing criminals to go free on bond.
Stephen Federico’s daughter, Logan Federico, was “executed while on her knees begging for her life” in a suspected home invasion while visiting friends in May 2025.
He said his daughter’s alleged killer, Alexander Dickey, was a criminal with 39 prior arrests and 25 felonies.
“We’re asking you … we’re begging you all to stop this,” Federico said.
The hearing also highlighted the political divide between Democrats and Republicans on the issue of crime in America’s cities.
In his opening statement, subcommittee chairman Rep. Jefferson Van Drew (R-N.J.) called out “weak leaders” who allow violent criminals to walk free. He said cashless bail policies contribute to offenders repeatedly returning to the streets.
“It’s unacceptable. We’re tired of it. We’re sick of it,” Van Drew said. “And you know, ladies and gentlemen, we don’t have to accept it. It doesn’t have to be this way. Bad leaders let this happen.”
In her opening statement, the subcommittee’s ranking member, Rep. Deborah Ross (D-Calif.), said the hearing was “too little, too late” for the victims of the crimes. To address the root causes of crime, Congress and local politicians should be “doing more to prevent crime and address the lack of mental health care,” she said.
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