A federal grand jury has indicted the man accused of fatally stabbing a 66-year-old woman aboard a MARTA train, charging him with a crime that carries the possibility of the death penalty, according to court records reviewed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The indictment against John Elijah Matthews, 25, was returned Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. Matthews is accused of killing Margaret Swan during what authorities have described as a random attack on May 30.
According to prosecutors, Swan was stabbed while riding a MARTA train between the Lakewood and Oakland City stations. MARTA police have said there was no apparent connection between the suspect and the victim.
The indictment alleges that Matthews intended to kill Swan and describes her as a “particularly vulnerable” victim because of her age. Prosecutors further contend the killing was carried out in an “especially heinous, cruel and depraved manner.”
U.S. Attorney Theodore Hertzberg said that U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has not yet decided whether federal prosecutors will seek the death penalty if Matthews is convicted.
The case has drawn national attention and intensified scrutiny of safety on Atlanta’s public transit system. Following Swan’s death, the Trump administration announced an investigation into MARTA’s safety and security practices.
The Swan case is one of several recent violent incidents on MARTA that have prompted federal involvement, including a stabbing at Georgia State Station. Earlier this month, Hertzberg also announced federal charges against Anthony Tyrone Gresham, 42, who is accused of shooting and wounding a teenager on a train at the Midtown Station earlier this month.
Hertzberg said such federal prosecutions have been rarely used in Georgia, despite existing in federal law for decades.
