A 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee who sought safety in the United States from the war in her home country was tragically killed in a seemingly random and unprovoked attack on a light rail train in Charlotte, North Carolina. Iryna Zarutska, who recently fled Kyiv to begin a new life in America, was stabbed three times, including once in the throat, and was pronounced dead at the scene. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) has charged a 34-year-old man, Decarlos Brown Jr., with first-degree murder in connection with her death.
According to a police affidavit, the attack occurred on Friday, August 22, aboard the LYNX Blue Line. Surveillance video from inside the train car, which has since been released by authorities, shows Zarutska sitting with her back to Brown. She was wearing headphones and using her phone, seemingly unaware of her surroundings. After about four minutes, the video shows Brown standing up, pulling out a pocket knife, and stabbing her three times in the neck. The attack was swift and unprovoked, with no prior interaction between the victim and her accused killer.
Police were able to arrest Brown, a homeless man with a lengthy criminal history, shortly after the stabbing. He was found on the platform outside the train car and was taken to a local hospital for non-life-threatening injuries sustained during the incident. Court records show that Brown has a history of violent and non-violent crimes, including convictions for robbery with a dangerous weapon and breaking and entering. He was also charged with the misuse of the 911 system earlier this year after reportedly calling police to complain about a “man-made material” in his body that he claimed was controlling him. A competency evaluation has been filed by his attorney.
The senseless murder has sent shockwaves through the community and has ignited a conversation about public safety on Charlotte’s light rail system. City officials and the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) have vowed to increase security on the transit system to reassure riders. For Zarutska’s family, the tragedy is an “irreparable loss.” A GoFundMe page was created to help her family, which described her as a “sweet angel, a bright and beautiful woman” who came to the U.S. in search of a new beginning, only to have her life stolen in a random act of violence.
