{"id":144771,"date":"2025-09-09T19:18:12","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T19:18:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/144771\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T19:18:12","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T19:18:12","slug":"man-accused-of-killing-ukrainian-refugee-on-north-carolina-train-charged-with-federal-crime","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/144771\/","title":{"rendered":"Man accused of killing Ukrainian refugee on North Carolina train charged with federal crime"},"content":{"rendered":"

WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The Justice Department on Tuesday charged a man with a lengthy arrest record with the fatal stabbing of a Ukrainian refugee on a North Carolina commuter train last month, meaning he could face the death penalty.<\/p>\n

The federal charge comes amid growing questions<\/a> about why Decarlos Brown Jr. was on the street despite 14 prior criminal cases before he was accused of pulling out a knife and killing 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska in an apparently random attack captured on video. The case has become latest flashpoint in the debate over whether cities such as Charlotte<\/a> are adequately addressing violent crime, mental illness and transit safety.<\/p>\n

Zarutska had come to the United States to escape the war in Ukraine<\/a>, relatives wrote in a GoFundMe post, describing her as determined to build a safer life.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe 23-year-old victim had come to the United States to escape the war in Ukraine.(Iryna Zarutska Instagram)<\/p>\n

Brown was arrested at the scene and charged with first-degree murder by North Carolina prosecutors. He now also faces a federal charge of causing death on a mass transportation system, which carries up to life in prison or the death penalty.<\/p>\n

Attorney General Pam Bondi said the killing was \u201ca direct result of failed soft-on-crime policies that put criminals before innocent people.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will seek the maximum penalty for this unforgivable act of violence \u2014 he will never again see the light of day as a free man,\u201d Bondi said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\"DecarlosDecarlos Brown Jr. had cycled through the criminal justice system for more than a decade(Mecklenburg County Jail)<\/p>\n

The death penalty is a potential punishment for people convicted of first-degree murder in North Carolina. However, the state has not carried out an execution since 2006. Legal challenges over the use of lethal injection drugs and a doctor\u2019s presence at executions have in part delayed action.<\/p>\n

Brown had cycled through the criminal justice system for more than a decade, with 14 prior cases in Mecklenburg County, including serving five years for robbery with a dangerous weapon, according to court records. He was arrested earlier this year after repeatedly calling 911 from a hospital, claiming people were trying to control him. A judge released him without bail.<\/p>\n

His mother told local television she sought an involuntary psychiatric commitment this year after he became violent at home. Doctors diagnosed him with schizophrenia.<\/p>\n

Video released Friday shows Zarutska entering the light-rail train and taking a seat in front of Brown, who was seated behind her. Minutes later, without any apparent interaction, he pulls out a pocketknife, stands and slashes her in the neck, investigators said. Passengers scream and scatter as she collapses.<\/p>\n

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"WASHINGTON (AP) \u2014 The Justice Department on Tuesday charged a man with a lengthy arrest record with the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":144772,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[23,89830,15755,3,5188,89832,89831,14847,1208,21,19,22,20,25,24],"class_list":["post-144771","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-united-states","tag-america","tag-carolina","tag-charlotte","tag-news","tag-north","tag-refugee","tag-stabbed","tag-train","tag-ukraine","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144771","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144771"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144771\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144772"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144771"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144771"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144771"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}