ATLANTA – Federal authorities have charged a 25-year-old Decatur, Georgia, man with committing an act of violence causing death on a mass transportation system, after he allegedly murdered a 66-year-old woman aboard a Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority train last weekend.
John Elijah Matthews, 25, of Decatur, Georgia, was named in a federal criminal complaint charging him with committing an act of violence using a dangerous weapon with the intent to cause death on a mass transportation system. If convicted, Matthews faces the possibility of life imprisonment or the death penalty.
The federal attorney general will determine whether the government will seek the death penalty. Matthews is currently in local custody but will appear in federal court at a later date.
According to U.S. Attorney Hertzberg, the charges and other information presented in court on May 30, 2026, Margaret Swan, a 66-year-old resident of Atlanta, was a passenger on a MARTA train traveling northbound from the Lakewood station to the Oakland City station.
Video surveillance inside the MARTA train allegedly showed Matthews standing next to Swan, who was sitting near the train’s door and looking at her phone. At approximately 11:25 a.m., surveillance footage allegedly shows Matthews reach into his pocket, pull out a folding knife, and stab Swan approximately 20 times in the chest and neck area as she attempted to defend herself.
Other passengers on the train fled for safety and called for help, and at least one passenger confirmed that Swan had no interaction with Matthews before the fatal attack.
After the MARTA train stopped at the Oakland City station, MARTA police officers immediately arrested Matthews, who was allegedly in possession of a bloody folding knife consistent with the knife seen in the surveillance footage and had blood on his clothes. First responders attempted to render emergency medical aid to Swan, but she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Members of the public are reminded that the complaint only contains charges. The defendant is presumed innocent of the charges, and it will be the government’s burden to prove the defendant’s guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority Police Department.
This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime.
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