CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — The man accused of killing a Ukrainian refugee on a commuter train in North Carolina’s largest city appeared in federal court on Thursday, as his attorneys seek a hearing to determine whether he is mentally incompetent to face the charge against him or possibly the death penalty.

Decarlos Brown Jr. and his attorneys made an initial court appearance in a Charlotte courtroom on the count of causing death on a mass transportation system. Shackled from his hands and ankles and wearing a jumpsuit, Brown kept his head up looking at U.S. District Judge Susan Rodriguez while she read the charge against him.

Authorities accuse Brown of stabbing 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska on the Charlotte light rail car in August, in an apparently random attack captured on video.

Brown is

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