A gruesome stabbing caught on Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) cameras in late August was so brazen the city’s mayor and President Donald Trump is speaking out about it. Now, the 35-year-old Black man accused of killing a white woman on the train has been charged, and his criminal rap sheet is long.
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On Aug. 22 around 10 p.m. near the rail station along Camden Road, Iryna Zarutska, a 23-year-old woman who came to Charlotte after fleeing the war in Ukraine with her mother and siblings, was riding the Blue Line when a homeless Black man named Decarlos Brown Jr. allegedly stabbed her in the throat three times with a pocket knife.
The suspect, who did not have a paid ticket to ride the train, per CATS, and Zarutska had no interaction before the stabbing, according to an affidavit. Local news channel WCNC reported Brown did not know Zarutska, who was wearing headphones and looking down at her phone while sitting in the train car’s aisle seat.
Video shows the suspect remove his hoodie after walking to the other end of the train after the alleged stabbing. Several passengers rushed to help Zarutska, who clutched her throat and collapsed, but she was pronounced dead at the scene. Local news channel WTVD 11 reported the train stopped about two minutes later and Brown was arrested by Charlotte police after exiting the train.
Now, Brown has been charged with first degree murder. But this isn’t his first run-in with the law. In Mecklenburg County, he has 14 previous court cases, including convictions for robbery with a dangerous weapon, breaking and entering and larceny in 2015. He was sentenced to serve six years behind bars in North Carolina. Upon his release from prison in 2020, Brown was charged with assaulting his sister. Even Brown’s mother had blamed the courts for her son’s release to roam freely, Newsweek reported.
In January, he was charged with misusing 911 after he repeatedly called the emergency line about a “man-made material” that had been implanted in his body and was affecting his ability to speak, walk and eat. He was released on bond. The outlet reported a judge had ordered Brown to undergo a competency evaluation by July, but it was never completed. Brown, who has also been diagnosed with schizophrenia long before the train stabbing and has a pattern of delusional behavior, remained free until Zarutska’s death.
The unprovoked attack was captured on train’s surveillance footage and made its rounds on social media, sparking backlash about safety on public transits and discourse about mental health. M. Quentin Williams, a former FBI agent and federal prosecutor, said Zarutska had little chance to defend herself in the random attack because “it happened so quickly” and “she was not in a position to respond.” He added: “He caught the most vulnerable person on the train. She was in close proximity to him. She had her back to him. She, also, was doing something that diverted her attention away.”
Zarutska, known for her “radiant smile,” was described by those who knew her as a “gifted and passionate artist” who loved designing and sculpting in her obituary. She also loved animals and often cared for her neighbors’ pets.
A “heartbroken” Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles called Zarutska’s death “senseless and tragic.” When President Donald Trump was asked about the stabbing at an appearance in Maryland on Sunday, he called it “horrible.”
A GoFundMe was launched for Brown, who remains in police custody, to help “fight against the racism and bias against our people,” The New York Post reported. The controversial fundraiser was created to help raise “money to assist with legal fees” with thanks for “giving us a hand to push against this corrupt narrative.” The GoFundMe has since been deleted, but one online critic wants, “Anyone who donated to the GoFundMe for Decarlos Dejuan Brown” to be “named and f*cking shamed!” Another person, per the outlet, wrote how race has nothing to do with the alleged crime and that Brown was no “‘victim’ of a broken judicial system; the only victim here is Iryna.”
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