On August 22, 2025, 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska was sitting on a LYNX Blue Line rail train. Published footage shows Decarlos Brown, her attacker, sitting behind her before swiftly standing up and stabbing her three times in the neck.
Bystanders silently watched the assault before walking off the train, providing no help. The attack itself was unprovoked and brutal, with no one truly getting an understanding of why Brown did what he did.
Brown, a 34-year-old man, is now facing a state charge of first-degree murder. According to CNN, the federal charge comes with the possibility of the death penalty, a punishment that President Trump agrees with.
The victim, Iryna Zarutska, along with her family, fled to America in 2022 as an attempt to escape the war in Ukraine. Zarutska was a young, immigrant woman from Kyiv, Ukraine. Born on May 22, 2002, she later studied and earned a degree in art and restoration at Synergy College. She fled from her home country to the United States in 2022 to escape the ongoing war.
Both of her siblings and mother would come to the U.S. alongside her, although her father remained in Ukraine due to travel restrictions for men. Upon arriving in the U.S., Iryna would move to Huntersville, North Carolina, where she would begin learning English and how to drive.
Zarutska enrolled in college courses and worked at a pizzeria in Charlotte, North Carolina, to help support her family. It was from this job that she commuted home on that fateful day.
The perpetrator, Decarlos Brown, had a long history that may be a factor in understanding this case. Brown had been arrested fourteen times in Mecklenburg County, North Caroline, with criminal charges dating back to 2007. On April 11, 2014, he was convicted of breaking and entering. While on probation, he was arrested for armed robbery and possession of a firearm by a felon.
Brown was convicted and incarcerated in state prison from 2015 until 2020. After being released, he was set to live with his family. According to ABC News, his mother reported that he was diagnosed with schizophrenia, and during this time, he was displaying violent behavior at home.
His mother stated she had sought involuntary commitment but was ultimately denied. The associate press claims that involuntary commitments are extremely difficult to obtain unless a court finds the person to be dangerous. At this point, they saw no immediate threat from Brown.
After Brown stopped taking psychiatric medication, his mother had taken him to a homeless shelter, where he would later stay until the reported incident against Zarutska. In January of 2025, Brown repeatedly called 911 about a type of “man-made material” living in and controlling his body. After which, he was charged with misuse of 911 and released without bond. No order for immediate psychiatric evaluation was issued.
This introduces the question of why Brown was even able to roam the streets of Charlotte, North Carolina, freely. Despite knowledge of Decarlos’ history of repeated offenses, the judges allowed him to continue to live a normal life around unsuspecting people in public.
It is a relevant spark in conversation as to why the judges believed it would be okay to let him walk freely without any further mental evaluation. Furthermore, an important part of this case is also the bystanders and how they handled the situation.
Instead of stepping in to stop the bleeding, or at the most to call someone, they left without saying a word as Iryna was left bleeding out. This element adds another layer to this crime in reference to the public’s role in community safety, emphasizing that every individual’s choice to intervene or not has consequences.
After the incident, it took news sources about two weeks to report this nationally; the public wouldn’t find out about the death of Iryna until early September.
Outlets have treated Decarlos Brown and Iryna Zaurstka’s case as a major focus point when it comes to debates on public safety, mental health policy, and criminal justice reform. The reports often highlight the victim’s story as a Ukrainian refugee who sought safety in the United States.
Simultaneously, media sources have zeroed in on the history of Decarlos Brown’s repetitive criminal offenses and his family’s claim of his untreated schizophrenia. The media has been using this case to question the failures of the judicial system, specifically the decisions by judges that allowed him to be released on a misdemeanor charge without ensuring a mental health evaluation.
This systemic critique is magnified by national political figures and outlets, who have used the incident to attack “soft-on-crime” policies. Which will introduce a new law to keep others safe: “Iryna’s Law,” which is a law that makes bail requirements stricter, forces mandatory mental health evaluations, and adds reform to the death penalty, has been passed in North Carolina in response to the tragedy.
Many people believe that this case highlights systemic failures when it comes to both perpetrator and victim. If action had been taken earlier on Brown’s dangerous mental health issues, alongside his criminal history, then access to public transportation may have been very limited to none, which could have easily prevented this murder altogether.
