The man accused of killing a woman on a North Carolina train has been deemed incompetent to stand trial following a mental evaluation.
Decarlos Brown Jr., 34, is charged in the fatal stabbing of Ukrainian woman Iryna Zarutska, 23, while aboard the light-rail Lynx Blue Line on Aug. 22, 2025.
A brief hearing was held Tuesday where a few outbursts could be heard from Brown, including how he would be “pressing charges.”
Brown is expected to be committed to a special facility under the direction of the U.S. attorney general for treatment which will be aimed restoring his competency.
If he is found to be competent, the federal case could resume.
“Let me be clear, he will be in custody that whole time. Mr. Brown is in federal custody now and will remain in federal custody until trial,” Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, said following the hearing. “For us, our number one goal here is justice for Iryna Zarutska and Iryna Zarutska’s family. That’s what’s on the top of our minds and our hearts every day.”
Brown could face the death penalty if the federal case proceeds.
A defendant who is found incompetent cannot be tried or executed while incompetent.
Ferguson explained Brown would be evaluated by a medical doctor.
“I’m very hopeful to have his capacity restored,” he said. “The doctor that examined him for the competency hearing today found that his prognosis for restoration is very good. So I rely on the doctors here, and I think that his prognosis is good, and we will see him stand trial.”
Brown was federally indicted on a charge of committing an act of violence against a railroad carrier and mass transportation system resulting in death.
The hearing follows a Bureau of Prisons evaluation on May 7 when Brown was incompetent to stand trial for his state charges.
Brown, a parolee with multiple documented run-ins with the law, has a long history of mental illness, according to family members.
In a jailhouse phone call to his sister just days after Zarutska’s murder, Brown made claimed there were “man-made” materials controlling his mind.
Brown said he did not understand why he stabbed the 23-year-old refugee and claimed the government had implanted “materials” in his brain that were controlling his actions, in the call obtained by the Daily Mail.
“They just lashed out on her, that’s what happened,” Brown said. “Whoever was working the materials they lashed out on her. That’s all there is to it. Now they really gotta investigate what my body was exposed to… Now they gotta do an investigation as to who was the motive behind what happened.”
Surveillance video shows Zarutska entering the train car and sitting down in front of Brown.
About four minutes later, Brown allegedly pulled a knife from his pocket and stabbed her three times from behind before leaving the train.
