A North Carolina judge will have to decide if the man who stabbed a Ukrainian refugee to death on a Charlotte train can stand trial.
DeCarlos Brown, a man with a lengthy criminal history, apparently was caught on video fatally stabbing 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska as she was returning home from her job at a pizza restaurant. Brown was said to be unable to stand trial after being evaluated on Dec. 29, the New York Post reported. (RELATED: Democratic Mayoral Candidate Claims Mural Honoring Murdered Refugee Is Against City’s ‘Values’)
Brown’s record included an armed robbery charge for which he served five years in prison, according to WSOC, a Charlotte-area TV station, saying.
The brutal killing went viral on social media after authorities released the video, which showed Brown stabbing Zarutska at least three times, including once in the neck, on Aug. 22, 2025.
The released video also showed Brown saying, “I got that white girl. I got that white girl.”
Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, who was killed by Decarlos Brown Jr. (R), on a light rail train in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
Billionaire Elon Musk made multiple posts and also reposted other users on X who discussed the killing and the lack of coverage from corporate media. He also partially funded murals of the slain refugee, including one in Providence, Rhode Island, that was forced to change location after at least one left-wing Democrat claimed the mural was inconsistent with the “values” of the city.
Brown is also facing federal charges in the case, which could result in a death sentence.
“I plan on signing a warrant to seek the death penalty in that case,” then-Attorney General Pam Bondi told Fox News host Jesse Watters in October. “He had been arrested 14 times, Jesse, as you know, and should have been in jail when he murdered that beautiful, innocent young woman.”
Brown is also undergoing an evaluation to determine if he is fit to stand trial in federal court for Zarutska’s murder, according to the Post.
Failing to incarcerate violent people leads to more violence and crime. When Italy released inmates early, that increased its crime rate significantly, according to a 2014 study. (See Alessandro Barbarino & Giovanni Mastrobuono, the Incapacitation Effect of Incarceration from Several Italian Collective Pardons, American Economic Journal, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 1-37 (2014)). Other studies find similar results.
