Decarlos Dejuan Brown: Charges, Competency Ruling, and Iryna’s Law

Decarlos Dejuan Brown Jr. is the 34-year-old Charlotte man charged in the Charlotte train stabbing that killed 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a Blue Line light rail car in August 2025. He faces a federal charge of committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system and a state first-degree murder charge in Mecklenburg County. As of June 2026, a federal judge has found him mentally incompetent to stand trial, and both prosecutions are on hold while he receives treatment at a federal medical facility.¹

What Happened on the Blue Line

On the evening of August 22, 2025, Zarutska boarded a Charlotte Area Transit System Blue Line train heading toward the East/West Boulevard Station. She sat in an aisle seat wearing headphones. Brown, sitting behind her, pulled out a knife and stabbed her to death. There had been no prior interaction between them and no provocation. After the attack, Brown walked to the opposite end of the car and removed his hoodie. The train stopped about two minutes later, and Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers arrested him on the platform as he exited.²

Who Decarlos Brown Is

Brown had a long record before the stabbing. According to ABC News, he had accumulated 14 prior charges, including larceny and breaking and entering. His most serious prior conviction was for robbery with a dangerous weapon, for which he served a five-year prison sentence from 2015 to 2020.³

His mother, Michelle Dewitt, told ABC News that Brown had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and that his behavior deteriorated significantly after his release from prison in 2020. She described him talking to himself, slamming doors, and yelling, and expressing a persistent delusion that a “material” or “chip” had been implanted in his body by police that controlled his movements, speech, and diet. The New York Times reported that his family believed he was “too dangerous to live at home” but that he did not meet North Carolina’s legal criteria for involuntary treatment.⁴

Dewitt said she took Brown to a mental health hospital, but staff refused to admit him because he was not threatening self-harm and they lacked space. She filed a petition with a magistrate that resulted in a 14-day hold at a mental health facility, after which he was released back to his family. When he stopped taking prescribed medication, the family dropped him off at the Roof Above Lucille Giles Men’s Shelter in Charlotte.³

Seven months before the stabbing, in January 2025, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police arrested Brown for misusing the 911 system outside Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center. He told officers he believed he had been exposed to a “man-made” material that controlled his ability to eat, walk, and talk. Officers told him it was a medical issue and they could not help. When he called 911 again while officers were still on scene, he was arrested. He was released two days later on a written promise to appear, a standard practice for nonviolent misdemeanor charges.⁵

In audio recordings obtained by ABC News after the August 2025 stabbing, Brown told his sister: “Make sure it was me that did it, not the material. And I’m telling you, the material did it.” He also said, “I never said not one word to the lady at all.”³

The Federal and State Charges

On September 9, 2025, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a criminal complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina charging Brown with one count of committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system. Attorney General Pamela Bondi directed the prosecution. U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson stated that “federal charges are necessary to protect the public and ensure confidence in our transportation systems.” The charge carries a potential sentence of life in prison or death.⁶

Brown also faces a state first-degree murder charge in Mecklenburg County. He has been in federal custody since October 2025.⁷

Where the Case Stands Now

Both prosecutions have stalled on competency. In the state case, Brown was found “incapable of proceeding” after an evaluation at a state psychiatric facility. A defense motion filed in April 2026 in Mecklenburg Superior Court sought to delay his Rule 24 hearing, which would have determined whether state prosecutors would seek the death penalty.⁸

In the federal case, evaluators at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago determined that Brown suffers from a “serious mental illness that prevents him from understanding the case and assisting in his defense.” His federal public defenders described years of “debilitating mental illness and impairment, including severe delusions,” specifically citing his belief that “a man-made material has been placed inside his body and is controlling his every movement.”⁷

On June 9, 2026, U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell formally ruled Brown incompetent to stand trial. He ordered Brown committed to the attorney general’s custody for transport to a federal medical facility, where he would undergo up to four months of treatment aimed at restoring competency. The judge said the prognosis for restoration was “good” but that a separate future hearing would be required if forced medication became necessary. If competency is not restored, Brown could remain in custody under civil commitment, and the federal charges would have to be dismissed by statute, though they could be reinstated if competency were later restored.¹⁹

The state murder case has been delayed for at least six months after the state-level incapacity finding. State prosecutors have indicated they intend to wait until the federal case is resolved before resuming their prosecution. Brown’s family has said he suffers from schizophrenia, a diagnosis he has contested in court filings.¹

Who Iryna Zarutska Was

Zarutska was 23 years old. She had fled Ukraine in August 2022, six months after the Russian invasion, with her mother, sister, and brother. Before leaving, the family had sheltered in a bomb shelter during the fighting. She held a degree in art and restoration from Synergy College in Kyiv.¹⁰

After settling in North Carolina, she enrolled at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, where she was taking English classes and planned to study to become a veterinary assistant. She worked at Zepeddie’s Pizzeria in Charlotte and had recently moved in with her boyfriend in May 2025.¹¹

Her family’s attorney, Lauren Newton, issued a statement criticizing the “lack of visible or effective security presence” on the light rail and calling for a full investigation. When the Ukrainian embassy offered to help return Zarutska’s body to Ukraine, the family declined. “She loved America,” they said. “We’re going to bury her here.”¹²

What Changed After the Stabbing

The North Carolina General Assembly enacted Session Law 2025-93, known as Iryna’s Law, which took effect on December 1, 2025. The law changed how the state handles defendants charged with violent offenses and those found incapable of proceeding. It created a rebuttable presumption that no conditions of release will adequately protect the community when a defendant is charged with a violent felony, and it requires an examination for possible involuntary commitment if that defendant has a history of involuntary commitment within the previous three years. Prosecutors gained authority to move for a court determination on whether an incapable defendant should be evaluated for involuntary commitment before criminal charges are dismissed. Facilities must now notify the district attorney before an incapable defendant is discharged or conditionally released. The law added an aggravating sentencing factor for offenses committed against users of public transportation, and criminal charges dismissed due to incapacity are no longer automatically expunged.

The stabbing also prompted an overhaul of transit security. Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles characterized the attack as a “tragic failure by the courts and magistrates” and cited concerns about the release of repeat offenders who needed mental health treatment.¹³ On September 22, 2025, the Charlotte City Council voted unanimously to expand the jurisdiction of Professional Police Services, a private firm already under contract with CATS, to patrol additional transit-related locations including the Charlotte Transit Center and the Rail Trail. The agreement incorporated 20 Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers to assist the firm.¹⁴ CATS banned Brown from the transit system for life.²

1
CNN. Decarlos Brown Jr. Charlotte Train Stabbing
2
ABC7NY. Iryna Zarutska, Ukrainian Refugee, Stabbed to Death on NC Train
3
ABC News. Mother, Sister of Charlotte Stabbing Suspect Describe History of Mental Illness
4
New York Times. NC Stabbing Suspect Police Mental Health History
5
WBTV. Timeline: Charlotte Light Rail Stabbing Suspect Has History of Arrests, Prison Time
6
U.S. Department of Justice. Justice Department Charges Light Rail Attacker With Federal Crime
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WBTV. Defense for Man Accused of Killing Iryna Zarutska Requests Federal Competency Hearing
8
Charlotte Observer. DeCarlos Brown Found Incapable to Proceed in State Court
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QC News. Federal Judge Finds Decarlos Brown Not Fit for Trial in Fatal Charlotte Light Rail Stabbing
10
CNN. Charlotte Train Stabbing Ukrainian Victim
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ABC News. Charlotte Light Rail Stabbing Victim Immortalized With Butterfly Species
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Charlotte Observer. Iryna Zarutska Charlotte Light Rail Stabbing
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WFAE. Charlotte Mayor Announces New Safety Steps Following Light Rail Stabbing
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WFAE. Charlotte City Council Approves Plan for Private Security Firm to Patrol More Around Transit System