Iryna Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee, was fatally stabbed on a Charlotte, NC light rail train.
A video released on Monday of the fatal stabbing of a Ukrainian refugee onboard a Charlotte light rail train shows the final seconds leading to the encounter. In the video, a 34-year-old homeless man, seated behind Iryna Zarutska, lunges forward, brandishing a switch knife and stabbing the woman three times in the neck and chest. The attack occurred around 9:46 PM on the Lynx Blue Line of the Charlotte light rail system. Police described the incident as “unprovoked” and “completely random.” Police arrested the man at the next stop before identifying him as Decarlos Brown Jr. and charging him with first-degree murder.
According to the Charlotte Police Department, Brown had at least eleven previous arrests, including robbery with a dangerous weapon and several counts of communicating threats. Brown served five years in prison for the robbery, and was most recently arrested in January and charged with misusing 911 during a police welfare check. A police report describes Brown’s behavior at the time as “erratic”. The report also notes he complained of a “man-made” object in his body controlling him as he ate and talked. When police arrived, he requested they investigate the object, though he could produce no evidence of anything of the kind. Several local news outlets have obtained Brown’s complete criminal record.
In addition to the robbery charge, police arrested Brown for violently assaulting his sister in September 2020, and doctors later diagnosed him with schizophrenia. WSOC-TV reporter Joe Bruno spoke to Brown’s mother, who said she had him evaluated when his behavior became increasingly aggressive. He was 23 years old at the start of his five-year prison sentence in 2014. An affidavit shows she obtained an involuntary commitment order, which led to the diagnosis. Police said Brown has been homeless since at least 2024.
Bruno posted on X that Brown’s mother told him, “the court should have never let her son be out in the community knowing he had mental health issues and previous arrests.”
The release of the surveillance footage led to outcry from public figures, including U.S. Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy, who placed blame with Charlotte city officials and the city’s Mayor Vi Lyles for failing to protect Zarutska by not “properly punishing” Brown for his past offenses. Mayor Lyles’ response in particular was criticized by some news outlets, where she insisted that Charlotte could not “arrest its way out of issues like homelessness and mental health.”
Mecklenburg County Republican Party spokesperson said it will hold a news conference to discuss Charlotte’s safety issues and Zarutska’s death. In a prior statement, the party said “This could have happened to any one of us. Crime in Charlotte is spiraling out of control, and our current leadership is doing nothing to stop it.”
Zarutska, who was pronounced dead on the train, had arrived in the United States recently as a refugee of the Ukraine war. Her family said the 23-year-old was working at a pizzeria and had come to the U.S. seeking a “fresh start” from the violence in her hometown.
