DOJ charges man for deadly stabbing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska in North Carolina

The Department of Justice Department (DOJ) on Tuesday announced federal charges against a repeat violent offender man in the brutal stabbing death of a young Ukrainian refugee, Iryna Zarutska, aboard a Charlotte commuter train last month.

The case has sparked outrage across North Carolina and reignited debate over soft-on-crime policies that allow dangerous criminals to roam the streets despite lengthy rap sheets.

Prosecutors say Decarlos Brown Jr., a man with a long history of violent arrests, randomly attacked 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska, a recent refugee who had fled war-torn Ukraine in hopes of building a better life in the United States.

Authorities said Brown pulled a knife and fatally stabbed her in an unprovoked assault that was captured on surveillance video. (THIS IS ADDITIONAL FOOTAGE SHOWING THE FULL VIDEO HERE.)

Zarutska’s story has touched many across the nation. According to relatives, she fled Ukraine to escape the chaos of Russia’s invasion and came to America determined to work, study, and live freely. “She wanted safety and opportunity,” her family wrote in a fundraising post. “Instead, she was killed on a train, in the very place she thought she would finally be safe.”

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi condemned the killing in a statement posted to X.

“Iryna Zarutska was a young woman living the American dream,” Bondi wrote. “Her horrific murder is a direct result of failed soft-on-crime policies that put criminals before innocent people. I have directed my attorneys to federally prosecute Decarlos Brown Jr., a repeat violent offender with a history of violent crime, for murder. We will seek the maximum penalty for this unforgivable crime, and he will never again see the light of day as a free man.”

Bondi’s remarks underscore a key point: Brown was no stranger to law enforcement. He had been arrested repeatedly over the last decade, including convictions for robbery with a dangerous weapon. Records show he cycled through Mecklenburg County’s justice system with 14 prior criminal cases. Despite this extensive record, Brown remained free.

While North Carolina prosecutors initially charged Brown with first-degree murder, the new federal charge—causing death on a mass transportation system—carries even tougher penalties. If convicted, Brown could face either life in prison or the death penalty.

North Carolina does permit capital punishment, but the state has not executed anyone since 2006 due to ongoing legal challenges surrounding lethal injection protocols. Federal charges, however, open the door for a possible death penalty sentence that state-level bureaucracy might otherwise delay.

Adding another layer to the case, Brown’s mother told local media she had tried to have her son involuntarily committed earlier this year after he became violent at home.

Doctors diagnosed him with schizophrenia, but he was never kept under supervision. That revelation has sparked renewed criticism of the mental health system, which many argue is broken and unable to handle violent individuals who clearly pose a danger to society.

Conservatives point to Brown’s case as proof of how progressive criminal justice reforms and mental health failures intersect to create tragedies. Instead of being locked up or closely monitored, Brown was left free—ultimately leading to the death of an innocent young woman who believed America would be safer than Ukraine.

The killing has shaken Charlotte residents, many of whom already worry about rising crime on public transit and in their neighborhoods. Advocates for stricter enforcement argue that repeat offenders like Brown should never have been on the streets in the first place.

“This is what happens when the justice system values criminal rights over victims,” said one Charlotte commuter. “We’ve lost a young woman who escaped a war zone, only to be murdered by someone our courts kept releasing.”

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