CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A North Carolina court has ruled that DeCarlos Brown Jr. is incapable to proceed on the state first-degree murder charge in the August 2025 stabbing death of 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte light rail train.
Court documents show that a capacity evaluation completed December 29, 2025, at Central Regional Hospital determined Brown cannot understand the nature of the charges against him, comprehend his role in court proceedings, or assist his defense in a rational manner under North Carolina law.
Brown’s state public defender, Daniel Roberts, filed a motion in Mecklenburg Superior Court on April 7 or 8, 2026, requesting a 180-day delay of the scheduled Rule 24 competency hearing set for April 30. Prosecutors with the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s office agreed to the delay, according to the filing.
Brown, 35, a homeless man previously diagnosed with schizophrenia, remains in federal custody. He faces a separate federal charge of committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system in connection with the same incident. A second federal psychiatric evaluation has been ordered, and the federal case continues to move forward.
The incident occurred on August 22, 2025, aboard a Lynx Blue Line light rail train operated by the Charlotte Area Transit System. Authorities say Brown stabbed Zarutska multiple times in what police described as an apparently random attack during her evening commute. The event was captured on surveillance video and drew widespread national and international attention, prompting concerns about public safety on transit systems.
Zarutska had fled the war in Ukraine and was living and working in the Charlotte area at the time of her death.
Under North Carolina law, a finding that a defendant is incapable to proceed halts the state criminal proceedings until competency can potentially be restored. The state case is now paused for at least six months while Brown is held on the federal charges.
No trial date has been set in either jurisdiction. Brown is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
