An arrest warrant obtained by FOX 5 is revealing new details after a woman was stabbed to death on an Atlanta MARTA train near the Oakland City Station on Saturday.
John Elijah Matthews, 25, is charged with malice murder following the stabbing death of 66-year-old Margaret Swan.
Security footage shows Swan sitting completely alone inside MARTA train car 134 around 11:25 a.m. on Saturday, according to an arrest warrant.
The warrant states Matthews walked up to stand near her right side, pulled a knife out of his front pants pocket, grabbed Swan by her head, and cut her throat.
Swan screamed and attempted to rise from her seat before Matthews grabbed her right arm and stabbed her roughly 18 to 20 times in an unprovoked attack.
Matthews then threw Swan to the floor and stood beside her until the northbound train pulled into the Oakland City Station at approximately 11:27 a.m.
After the train stopped, Matthews walked out of the train car onto the north end of the station platform holding the knife in his right hand.
At 11:28 a.m., surveillance video captured MARTA police officers rushing to intercept and arrest Matthews on the platform with their weapons drawn. Matthews complied with all verbal instructions given by the arresting units, and the knife was found lying right next to him.
A patrolling officer rushed to the train car at 11:30 a.m. after a large crowd of passengers reported that a man wearing an orange shirt had stabbed a woman.
The responding officer found Swan lying motionless in a large pool of blood and attempted life-saving measures until emergency medics arrived.
Swan ultimately died at the scene and was pronounced deceased by the Fulton County Medical Examiner at 2 p.m.
Authorities immediately evacuated the station, suspended rail service until just before 3 p.m., and used shuttle buses to transport 80 to 100 stranded passengers to their destinations.
In addition to criminal charges, Matthews is permanently banned from all MARTA property.
Court officials confirmed that Matthews chose to waive his initial court appearance on Monday. It is unclear when his next court appearance will be.
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- Woman stabbed to death on Atlanta MARTA train; 1 arrested
According to MARTA crime statistics, rail services have had the most crime reports over the past five years.
A full breakdown of crime reported on MARTA property from 2020 to 2025 can be found below.
