Mangione had previously been charged with other, lesser, crimes in connection with the murder. The new charge concerns murder ("first-degree murder").
It was a horrific, well-planned and targeted murder that was carried out with the intention of causing shock and attention and intimidation, says Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg at a press conference.
It was carried out in one of the most vibrant parts of our city and threatened the safety of both residents and tourists, and commuters and businessmen who had just started their workday.
The allegations of threats to the civilian population mean that the prosecutors are also charging Mangione with "murder as a terrorist act", a point that is included in the state of New York's penal code for murders considered to be carried out to intimidate or subjugate the population.
Discovered by chance
The murder of the insurance company United Healthcare's CEO, and the subsequent hunt for his killer, has made headlines since the deed outside a hotel on Manhattan on December 4.
The 26-year-old managed to flee the city and made his way to Pennsylvania, where he was discovered by chance at a McDonald's restaurant in the city of Altoonia.
When one of the police officers who arrested him asked if he had recently been in New York, the 26-year-old is said to have "become silent and started shaking".
In his backpack, a pistol and silencer were later found, both of which were allegedly manufactured with the help of 3D printers.
Extradition on Thursday?
Luigi Mangione has since been detained in Pennsylvania awaiting extradition to New York.
At the detention hearing, the 26-year-old did not object to being extradited, but his lawyer demanded a court hearing on the extradition, which has delayed the process.
The negotiations on an extradition are taking place on Thursday, according to Bragg.
The American insurance company United Healthcare's CEO, 50-year-old Brian Thompson, was shot with multiple shots outside a hotel on Manhattan on December 4.
