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OAN Staff Brooke Mallory
6:37 PM – Tuesday, September 9, 2025
The disturbed man accused of fatally stabbing a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee on a Charlotte Area Transit System train in North Carolina last month has finally been charged with a federal crime. The purported crime was caught on video footage — provided by the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS).
Decarlos Dejuan Brown Jr., 34, now faces charges on one count of committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system, according to the Justice Department.
The victim, identified by police as Iryna Zarutska, 23, had recently arrived in the United States from Ukraine to escape the ongoing war with Russia, her family says.
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After receiving her work permit, she immediately began working at a senior citizens center and at a local pizza shop, while also caring for neighborhood animals, James Barnacle, deputy assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Division, told reporters during a Tuesday afternoon news briefing.
In a statement, Zarutska’s family lawyer, Lauren O. Newton, described her as kind and hardworking and said she was deeply loved by family and close friends.
“Iryna came here to find peace and safety, and instead her life was stolen from her in the most horrific way,” a family spokesperson said.
“Iryna Zarutska was a young woman living the American dream. Her horrific murder is a direct result of failed soft-on-crime policies that put criminals before innocent people,” Attorney General Pam Bondi added in a statement.
Brown has a criminal history spanning more than a decade, including felony breaking and entering and robbery with a dangerous weapon, for which he served a five-year prison sentence, according to court records.
“I have directed my attorneys to federally prosecute DeCarlos Brown Jr., a repeat violent offender with a history of violent crime, for murder,” Bondi continued. “We will seek the maximum penalty for this unforgivable act of violence.”
In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina, the FBI said Zarutska boarded the LYNX Blue Line train at 9:46 p.m. and sat in front of Brown.
“At approximately 21:50 hours, Brown pulled a knife from his pocket and unfolded the knife before striking the victim three times from behind,” the complaint states. “Following the attack, suspected blood can be seen dripping onto the floor as Brown walked away from the victim.”
According to a statement from Zarutska’s family lawyer, relatives became concerned when she failed to arrive at her partner’s residence, despite having texted that she was on her way.
“Her phone’s location alerted them that she was still at the station,” the statement said. “Upon arriving at the station, they were devastated to learn that Iryna had died at the scene.”
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers responded to the 1800 block of Camden Road. The complaint notes that the victim was found in the rear car of the train near “a large amount of blood, with a single stab wound in the middle of her neck.”
Investigators also discovered a pocketknife and a red shirt soaked in “suspected blood” at the scene. Brown was arrested on the outbound LYNX Blue Line platform at the station where the incident occurred and was initially charged with first-degree murder.
“The brutal attack on Iryna Zarutska on the Charlotte Light Rail was a disgraceful act that should never happen in America,” FBI Director Kash Patel said in a statement. “The FBI jumped to assist in this investigation immediately to ensure justice is served and the perpetrator is never released from jail to kill again.”
Brown remained in state custody on Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson said during the news briefing. Ferguson added that more federal charges could be filed later on as well.
If convicted, Brown faces either life in prison without parole or the death penalty, according to the Justice Department.
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