The Honduran illegal immigrant accused of stabbing a man in the chest on the light rail train in Charlotte, N.C., now faces added federal charges.
Oscar Gerardo Solorzano-Garcia, 33, from Honduras, was charged with one count of illegal reentry by a removed alien and one count of committing an act of violence on a mass transportation system, according to a federal criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Charlotte.
The attack occurred just before 5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 5, on the the Lynx Blue Line light rail. The twice-removed illegal immigrant allegedly stabbed a 24-year-old man, Kenyon Kareem-Shemar Dobie, and left him critically injured with a stab wound to the chest.
Solorzano-Garcia faces state-level charges for attempted first-degree murder, assault with a deadly weapon with serious injury, breaking/entering a motor vehicle, carrying a concealed weapon and intoxicated/disruptive behavior, according to various news reports.
“Not only should this defendant have already been in prison — he should not have been in our country to begin with,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “This attack is more tragic evidence that soft-on-crime policies and vetting failures put innocent citizens at risk. My prosecutors will deliver swift, comprehensive justice in this case.”
The federal charges come with a stiffer penalty. If convicted, Solorzano-Garcia faces a maximum statutory sentence of up to life in prison in prison for the charge of violence on a mass transportation system, and up to 10 years in prison for the illegal reentry offense.
Ultimately, his sentence will be determined by the Court based on the advisory sentencing guidelines and other statutory factors.
The charges, announced in a news release and press conference, were filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of North Carolina.
“This defendant is charged with coming back to the United States after being deported not once, but twice, and then stabbing a passenger in the chest on our city’s public transit system,” said U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson. “Everyone who uses public transportation is the victim of a crime like this, and we will act swiftly to prosecute those who violate our immigration laws and endanger the lives of citizens using public transit to go about their daily lives.”
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement also lodged an arrest detainer for the suspect.
Prior to the Dec. 5 train attack, Solorzano-Garcia was out walking free despite prior arrests for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon, destroying evidence, resisting arrest, using a false ID, and convictions for robbery and illegal re-entry, DHS officials shared in a news release.
The criminal complaint details his past criminal history and multiple re-entries. In 2012, Solorzano-Garcia was arrested by the Union County Police Department in New Jersey and was later convicted of robbery.
In July 2016, Solorzano-Garcia was arrested by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office in Florida for aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
Solorzano-Garcia was ordered removed by an immigration judge in 2018 and deported by the Trump Administration on March 9, 2018.
Nine months later, Solorzano-Garcia was arrested by U.S. Border Patrol. He was convicted of illegal reentry and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
On June 9, 2021, Solorzano-Garcia was removed from the United States out of Alexandria, Louisiana.
Solorzano-Garcia reentered illegally as a gotaway for a third time at an unknown date and location, DHS said.
According to witness statements and surveillance footage, Solorzano-Garcia was a passenger on the train and appeared to be intoxicated. Dobie and Solorzano-Garcia engaged in a verbal altercation, and Solorzano-Garcia pulled out a long knife and stabbed the victim in the chest, the complaint states.
Solorzano-Garcia then got off the train and began walking away. Additional Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department officers responding to the scene located Solorzano-Garcia and took him into custody.
In dispatch notes reviewed by Fox News Digital, authorities said that he suffered from a “serious chest wound.”
Fox News Digital obtained 911 calls from frantic passengers as they tried to help the man. In one 911 call, a male bystander can be heard jumping in to help Dobie while pleading for assistance.
READ THE DISPATCH NOTES – CLICK HERE
“We need police and medics. Somebody got stabbed on the train!” the caller is heard telling the dispatcher while trying to keep Dobie responsive. “No, no, please talk to me. You’re going to be here for your kids, right?”
Good Samaritans tried to stop the bleeding before emergency personnel arrived on the scene.
“He’s awake right now. He is breathing right now,” the caller said. “You’re not going to die. You’re not gonna die. We’ve got a rag and, like, a jacket applying pressure.”
When Dobie appears to choke, the dispatcher is heard trying to give instructions on how to roll him carefully onto his side.
“We’re trying! Please relax, please relax,” a passenger tells Dobie. “I don’t want you to choke, OK? But you got to calm down.”
Solarzano-Garcia appeared in court on Dec. 8 and a North Carolina judge ordered him to remain held without bond, the Associated Press reported. Mecklenburg County District Judge Keith Smith scheduled his next hearing for Dec. 30.
During the hearing, it was revealed that Solarzano-Garcia had been banned from Charlotte Area Transit Service property in October. CATS spokesman Brett Baldeck confirmed the ban, but did not have any further details. “Our security team is looking into this now,” Baldeck said in the AP report.
The FBI Charlotte Field Office also investigated the case and shared news of the federal charges on social media.
Breaking: Twice-Removed Illegal Alien Charged for Violent Attack on Charlotte’s Light Rail System
A federal criminal complaint was filed today, charging an illegal alien with a federal crime in connection with the violent attack on the city’s light rail system. Oscar Gerardo… pic.twitter.com/9rHSLvqDtv
— FBI Charlotte (@FBICharlotte) December 11, 2025
James C. Barnacle, Jr., FBI Special Agent in Charge, said Solorzano-Garcia should not have been on the light rail to precipitate the heinous attack, nor should he have been in the country.
“He has a violent criminal history and was deported twice,” Barnacle said. “These two recent attacks on the city’s light rail system make one thing clear. Safety measures on public transportation in our city must be strengthened. People deserve a secure and reliable transit system where they make it to work and back home unharmed.”
Barnacle also referenced another fatal stabbing attack that took place on Aug. 22 on Charlotte’s LYNX Blue Line light rail, calling attention to Charlotte’s soft-on-crime policies.
Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, 23, was fatally stabbed — while passengers watched and did not try to intervene — on her way home from work. The North Carolina man charged for her murder, Decarlos Brown Jr., 34, had a lengthy criminal history and was released multiple times despite also assaulting his family members.
In October, Brown was federally indicted and charged with one count of violence against a railroad carrier and mass transportation system resulting in death, a capital offense under federal law. If convicted, he faces a maximum statutory sentence of life in prison or death.
