Federal Prosecutors Have Charged Ukrainian Stabbing Victim Iryna Zarutska’s Killer With Federal Crimes
Federal prosecutors have charged Ukrainian stabbing victim Iryna Zarutska’s killer today. Prosecutors in North Carolina have charged 34-year-old homeless man Decarlos Dejuan Brown Jr. with murder. Surveillance cameras caught Brown stabbing the Ukrainian refugee on public transit in Charlotte, N.C., last month.
Federal prosecutors charged Brown with one count of committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system. Brown now faces a statutory maximum sentence of life in prison or death if convicted.
Prosecutors allege that Brown stabbed the 23-year-old to death on a Charlotte light-rail train the night of August 22nd.
Officers arrested Brown at about 9:55 p.m. local time that night. Several witnesses called 911 to report a woman was being stabbed by a Black man on the train.
Police found Zarutska dead and lying on her back with a large amount of blood. The police report says police found a single stab wound in the middle of her neck.
Investigators reviewed the surveillance footage of the assault. The footage shows Zarutska entering the rail car and sitting down in the row ahead of the alleged attacker.
About four minutes later, Brown is accused of pulling out a knife. He then stabbed Zarutska three times from behind and then walking away.
