Decarlos Brown Jr., 34, charged with murd3r in the st@bbing of Iryna Zarutska, 23, on a Charlotte train.

Iryna Zarutska, a 23-year-old refugee who fled war in Ukraine in search of protection, was brutally st@bbed to d3ath on Charlotte’s Lynx Blue Line.
Iryna Zarutska murd3r: Decarlos Brown Jr., 34, has been charged with f!rst-degree murd3r as the authorities (Decarlos Brown/Facebook, Iryna Zarutska/Instagram)

The attack took place when she was traveling home on August 22. She was st@bbed several times, including once in the throat, according to the police. Zarutska passed away at the spot despite the doctors’ frantic attempts.

Charg3s against Decarlos Brown Jr

Decarlos Brown Jr., 34, has been charged with first-degree murd3r as the authorities claim he committed the assault without warning before getting off the train at the next stop and being taken into custody.

According to CCTV evidence provided by Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police on Friday, Brown sat behind Zarutska before the assault. He is seen wielding a knife and walking through the carriage following the st@bbing. Worried by the sight of blood, the passengers stepped in after the suspect walked out from the train.

Brown was shifted to jail after receiving treatment at Atrium Health for a hand injury he received during the encounter. As legal actions advance, he currently awaits a competency evaluation imposed by the court.

Who is Decarlos Brown and what was his motive?

The 34-year-old Brown has a lengthy history of encounters with the police. He has been charged with armed robbery, criminal theft, assault, and making threats, according to the records.

His encounters with the legal system go back at least to 2011, and his numerous arrests and releases have shown shortcomings in the way repeat criminals are handled.

He had a history of schizophrenia and was reportedly homeless at the time of the attack.

According to court documents, Brown’s fitness was questioned earlier this year, leading to the order for a forensic mental health evaluation, which was not finished prior to the tragic event.

Police have not yet determined why the person was st@bbed. There was no known link between Brown and Zarutska, according to officials.

Systemic failures in mental health care

Mecklenburg County District Attorney Spencer Merriweather recently discussed the case with Axios, citing systemic shortcomings in mental health care as a significant cause. He claimed that little funding was available to treat individuals like Brown, who frequently go through the legal system without getting regular care.