**WASHINGTON**
US Attorney General Pam Bondi directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty Tuesday for the man accused of gunning down a health care CEO in New York last year.
Luigi Mangione, 26, was charged in December with stalking and eventually murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson. Thompson was gunned down in the early hours Dec. 4, a killing prosecutors alleged Mangione conducted after months of meticulous planning.
Mangione faces federal first-degree murder, interstate stalking and firearms charges. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
“Luigi Mangione’s murder of Brian Thompson — an innocent man and father of two young children — was a premeditated, cold-blooded assassination that shocked America," Bondi said in a statement. "After careful consideration, I have directed federal prosecutors to seek the death penalty in this case as we carry out President Trump’s agenda."
Thompson's killing captured national attention. His killer fled the scene of the shooting on bike, and disappeared into America's most populous city, sparking a days-long manhunt.
Mangione was arrested Dec. 9 in Altoona, Pennsylvania after being identified by a fast-food restaurant employee.
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