The mother of a homeless 34-year-old ex-convict accused of stabbing a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee told WSOC-TV on Monday that courts should have “never let her son be out in the community” knowing he had mental health issues and prior arrests.
Surveillance footage from the Charlotte Area Transit System showed 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska being stabbed on Aug. 22 multiple times by 34-year-old Decarlos Brown Jr. about four minutes after she boarded the bus. Speaking to WSOC-TV’s Hunter Sáenz, Brown’s mother said the system failed her son and ultimately left him on the streets despite his criminal history.
“What he did was atrocious. It was horrible, and it was wrong,” Brown’s mother said.
Prior to the recent stabbing, Brown served five years in prison for an armed robbery charge. After being released from prison, Brown’s mother said, “he started saying weird things.”
According to his mother, Brown had been evaluated, but due to his increasingly “aggressive” behavior she “got an involuntary commitment order from the courts.” For two weeks, Brown was then placed under psychiatric monitoring and eventually diagnosed with schizophrenia, she told WSOC-TV.
Following his release, Brown allegedly still continued to act aggressive, which led to his mother kicking him out of the house. While homeless, Brown had been arrested by January for “misusing the 911 system” after he had called from the hospital claiming he had received “man-made material” that was controlling when he “ate, walked and talked,” police told the outlet.
North Carolina Magistrate Judge Teresa Stokes released Brown from jail on Jan. 21 on a “written promise to appear,” with no bond required, despite his previous criminal history, the Washington Examiner reported. According to WSOC-TV, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department’s (CMPD’s) community policing team had been “well acquainted” with Brown, encountering him three times in 2024 and “referred him” to resources on each encounter.
The video footage of Brown’s alleged latest attack showed Zarutska arriving on the bus and sitting in front of Brown who had already been on board. Eventually Brown could be seen pulling out a pocketknife before stabbing the 23-year-old three times, including at least once in the throat, according to CMPD.
Brown was then seen walking through the rail car after the attack, as blood dripped from his weapon. Zarutska was pronounced dead on the train.
President Donald Trump took to Truth Social on Monday saying he had seen the “horrific video of a beautiful, young Ukrainian refugee” being “brutally ambushed by a mentally deranged lunatic.”
“The perpetrator was a well known career criminal, who had been previously arrested and released on CASHLESS BAIL in January, a total of 14 TIMES. What the hell was he doing riding the train, and walking the streets? Criminals like this need to be LOCKED UP,” Trump wrote. “The blood of this innocent woman can literally be seen dripping from the killer’s knife, and now her blood is on the hands of the Democrats who refuse to put bad people in jail, including Former Disgraced Governor and ‘Wannabe Senator’ Roy Cooper.”
(Featured Image Media Credit: Jobs For Felons Hub via Flickr)
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