A federal judge ruled June 9 that Decarlos Brown Jr., the man accused of stabbing Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska to death on a Charlotte commuter train last August, is mentally incompetent to stand trial. U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell ordered Brown transferred to a federal medical facility for up to four months of treatment, after which the court will reassess whether he can face the death-penalty charges against him. U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson told reporters outside the courthouse that the examining doctor found Brown’s prognosis for restoration “very good.” Brown remains in federal custody throughout treatment. “Our number one goal here is justice for Iryna Zarutska and Iryna Zarutska’s family,” Ferguson said.
Brown appeared in person for the hearing and interrupted proceedings multiple times. He demanded to know whether the judge had reviewed his mental health evaluation, said he wanted to press charges against the FBI, told the court he had “material in his body,” and asked whether the judge had received a letter from his mother. Court officers moved to escort him out. The Federal Bureau of Prisons had conducted its own independent evaluation and reached the same conclusion as Brown’s defense-commissioned examiner: he cannot understand the proceedings against him or assist in his own defense. The competency finding is a separate legal question from an insanity defense — it does not address Brown’s mental state on the night of the killing.
Zarutska was 23 years old and coming home from her shift at Zepeddie’s Pizzeria on the night of August 22, 2025, when she boarded the LYNX Blue Line in Charlotte’s South End. She sat down in front of a man in a red sweatshirt, put in her earbuds, and looked at her phone. Four and a half minutes later, surveillance cameras captured Brown pull a foldable pocketknife from his clothes, stand up, and stab her three times in the neck. She died on the train. Brown walked off at the next platform and was arrested within minutes. There had been no interaction between them.
Zarutska had fled the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 with her mother, sister, and brother. She enrolled at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, worked full-time at the pizzeria, and was pursuing a career as a veterinary assistant. Her family chose to bury her in the United States.
Brown has 14 prior cases in Mecklenburg County. He served just over five years in state prison for armed robbery with a dangerous weapon, released in September 2020. His brother is serving a 36-year sentence in North Carolina for murder. In January 2025, police bodycam footage — released publicly in November 2025 — shows Brown telling Charlotte-Mecklenburg officers he had been exposed to a man-made material controlling his body and demanding they investigate it. When he called 911 again while officers were still on scene, he was arrested for 911 misuse and released two days later on a written promise to appear. On July 28, 2025 — 25 days before the killing — a judge signed a court order for a forensic evaluation after Brown’s public defender filed a motion questioning his capacity to proceed. That order was the last action in his case before August 22. Brown’s federal defense team said in a May 2026 statement that their client “never received the help he needed” and that “our mental health and criminal justice systems failed him.”
Brown faces charges on two tracks. A federal grand jury indicted him in October 2025 under 18 U.S.C. § 1992 — violence against a railroad carrier and mass transportation system resulting in death — carrying life in prison or the death penalty. A Mecklenburg County grand jury separately indicted him on state first-degree murder charges. Both cases had already stalled: a December 2025 hospital evaluation found him incapable of proceeding in state court as well. The state case is paused pending the federal proceedings.
Zarutska’s death reshaped North Carolina law within weeks. Gov. Josh Stein signed Iryna’s Law — House Bill 307 — on October 3, 2025. The law eliminates cashless bail for many violent and repeat offenders, requires judges to consider a defendant’s full criminal history before setting pretrial release conditions, mandates mental health evaluations for defendants meeting certain criteria, and shortens death penalty appeal timelines. North Carolina had not executed anyone since 2006. The law passed 81–31 in the House and 28–8 in the Senate and took effect December 1, 2025. The magistrate who released Brown in January 2025 on a written promise to appear, Teresa Stokes, faced a removal petition of more than 11,000 signatures.
President Trump honored Zarutska’s mother, Anna, at his February 24, 2026 State of the Union address, calling Brown “a deranged monster” released through “no-cash bail” and saying Brown had entered the country under “open borders” — Brown is an American citizen born in North Carolina. Trump said to Anna Zarutska: “She had escaped a brutal war, only to be slain by a hardened criminal, set free to kill in America.” Most Democrats in the chamber remained seated. Through attorney Lauren O. Newton, the family’s statement after the June 9 ruling was brief: “This was not unexpected. We have confidence that his capacity will be restored so he can stand trial for what he did to Iryna.”
A competency reassessment is due no later than October 2026. If Brown is found restored, the federal death-penalty case proceeds. If not, the court determines whether additional treatment is warranted or whether competency cannot be restored. The law named for Iryna Zarutska now governs how North Carolina handles the categories of defendant her case brought into focus.
Support Independent Local Journalism — High Country Advocate was created as a real alternative to regional media that too often silences dissenting voices while taking sides in the political struggle. Producing in-depth, unflinching reporting like this series and others is expensive: servers, editing, research time, and legal review all add up quickly. If these articles have informed you or given you new perspective, please consider supporting HCA with a paid subscription — every subscriber helps keep this reporting strong and independent. 