A young woman who had fled the dangers of war was brutally stabbed to death for no apparent reason on a popular light rail train in North Carolina last week, according to Tar Heel State law enforcement.
The Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department has charged Decarlos Dejuan Brown, Jr., 34, with one count of first-degree murder.
On the night of August 22, Iryna Zarutska, 23, died while riding the Charlotte Area Transit System’s LYNX Blue Line train. According to police, she was stabbed several times, including once in the neck.
The victim, an artist, had recently arrived in the United States from Ukraine, according to a GoFundMe page for her family. She left her home country to escape the constant threat of violence.
“Ira had recently arrived in the United States, seeking safety from the war and hoping for a new beginning,” the donor letter reads. “Tragically, her life was cut short far too soon.”
The incident occurred shortly before 10:00 p.m. at the East/West Boulevard station on Camden Road in South End, according to authorities.
And there appears to be no motivation whatsoever.
According to an affidavit obtained by The Charlotte Observer, detectives reviewed on-board surveillance footage showing Zarutska entering the train car and sitting directly in front of Brown.
After that, the ride continued for about four and a half minutes without incident, according to police. Brown then unfolds a knife, pauses, stands up, and repeatedly stabs Zarutska, according to law enforcement.
According to the affidavit, the footage shows the woman becoming unresponsive as blood hits the floor, and the man getting up and leaving.
“The defendant is the assailant on the video,” the affidavit states. “There appears to be no interaction between the victim and defendant.”
Zarutska was pronounced dead on the scene of the alleged crime.
When officers arrived, several onlookers pointed them to Brown, who was still standing on an outbound platform. Police described the defendant as having a cut on his right hand and matching the description provided by 911 callers.
According to The Charlotte Ledger, Zarutska studied English at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College in nearby Salisbury before earning a degree in art restoration from Synergy College in Kyiv.
“She was always very helpful, very supportive, and just had a heart of gold,” a family friend told Charlotte’s NBC affiliate, WCNC. “She was a sweetheart.” It makes me sick to think she’s gone.”
The defendant is well-known within the local legal system.
The Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office website currently lists five arrests for Brown dating back to 2022. However, he has 16 different cases in the county dating back to 2013, according to WCNC. In 2015, the defendant was reportedly sentenced to five years in state prison for robbery with a dangerous weapon, breaking and entering, and larceny. Brown was arrested again in September 2022 for allegedly assaulting a woman and causing property damage, according to the sheriff’s office.
