Grand jury indicts Decarlos Brown in Charlotte light-rail killing
A Mecklenburg County grand jury has returned a state-level murder indictment against Decarlos Brown Jr. in the Aug. 22 fatal stabbing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska aboard Charlotte’s Lynx Blue Line light-rail train. The case has triggered renewed scrutiny of public safety, mental health policy and institutional accountability in Charlotte, leading to Iryna’s Law signed into statute earlier this month.
As previously reported by Carolina Journal, Brown, 34, possessed a lengthy criminal history, including arrests for robbery with a deadly weapon. That record has become central to public criticism that the criminal‐justice system failed to protect innocent citizens.
In addition to the newly returned state indictment, federal prosecutors filed a criminal complaint on Sept. 9, 2025, charging Brown with the federal crime of causing death on a mass‐transportation system — an offense that carries life in prison or the death penalty.
The state auditor’s office has opened an inquiry into the transit authority, citing the incident as evidence of lax oversight and security at the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS).
“One of the most basic duties a government owes the people is public safety,” Boliek said in a press release. “The recent lawlessness and violence that have taken place on Charlotte’s public transportation system raise serious questions about the security measures in place. We will investigate CATS and examine its public safety contracts and operations.”
An affidavit that accompanied the federal complaint said that on Aug. 22 Brown boarded the southbound LYNX Blue Line at Woodlawn Station. Surveillance video captured Brown pulling out a folding knife and stabbing Zarutska, who was seated in front of him, multiple times “without provocation,” as passengers fled the train. The affidavit says Brown exited at the next stop and was apprehended on the station platform minutes later. Police took him into custody and transported him to a local hospital for treatment of a hand injury before booking him into the Mecklenburg County Detention Center. Because the killing occurred aboard a federally funded public-transportation system, prosecutors charged Brown under 18 U.S.C. § 1992, which allows for life imprisonment or the death penalty.
At a field hearing of the US House Judiciary Committee in Charlotte on Sept. 29, victims’ families and law-enforcement officers sharply criticized the local justice system, pointing to the Aug. 22 murder of Iryna Zarutska as emblematic of a wider breakdown. According to the hearing transcript, a police officer testified, “The judicial system here in Mecklenburg County … is trash … the magistrate system … has no idea what they are doing.”
https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.jsYesterday, a grand jury in North Carolina returned an indictment for DeCarlos Brown Jr., who viciously killed Iryna Zarutska on the light rail in Charlotte.
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) October 23, 2025
He was walking free because of soft-on-crime policies.
Our prosecutors will not rest until we get justice for Iryna.
The indictment and surrounding case prompted Iryna’s Law enacted by the North Carolina General Assembly and signed into state law on Oct. 3, 2025. Formally House Bill 307, it overhauls parts of North Carolina’s criminal-justice system by tightening bail and pretrial rules for violent offenders and adding new safeguards for public safety. The law ends most forms of cash-free bail in serious cases, requires judges to review a defendant’s criminal history before setting release conditions, and mandates mental health evaluations when a suspect shows signs of instability or danger. It also limits death penalty appeals and classifies crimes committed on public transit as an aggravating factor in sentencing.
US Rep. Tim Moore, R-NC14, also introduced The Keep Violent Criminals Off Our Streets Act, which would bar any state or local government from receiving federal funds if they ban cash bail for all offenders or fail to enforce pretrial detention for all violent offenders, including juveniles. Sen. Marsha Blackburn, R-Tennessee, is leading the companion legislation in the Senate.
“Grand jury indicts Decarlos Brown in Charlotte light-rail killing” was originally published on www.carolinajournal.com.
