Charlotte light rail stabbing leads to federal charges, AG Pam Bondi announces

Julia Coin, The Charlotte Observer on Sep 9, 2025

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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The U.S. government on Tuesday announced a federal charge against the man accused of killing a Ukrainian woman on Charlotte’s light rail.

Decarlos Brown could face life in prison or death if convicted.

U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi has directed Charlotte’s top prosecutor to federally charge Brown, the Department of Justice announced Tuesday afternoon.

Brown, a homeless 34-year-old, was arrested and charged with murder in Mecklenburg County after the slashing and killing of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska on Charlotte’s light rail train as it traveled through busy South End on Aug. 22.

Now, he faces one federal count of committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system, according to the news release.

News of the stabbing gained national attention this weekend when the Charlotte Area Transit System released video of the stabbing and several media outlets shared some of the footage.

Zarutska’s death prompted an uproar from Republicans, including U.S. Rep. Tim Moore, R-N.C., President Donald Trump and, now, Bondi and U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina Russ Ferguson.

Brown’s criminal history dates back to at least 2011, with multiple dismissed charges or arrests that seemingly never led to charges. Before being charged with murder, his highest level conviction was a 2014 robbery with an armed weapon committed while on parole for felony breaking and entering and larceny.

In a south Charlotte apartment complex, he flashed a handgun at a man and demanded his phone and money. Police arrested him that same day, and he served more than five years in prison. After his 2020 release, he served a year on parole and then was arrested for assault on a female in August 2022, according to jail records. The charge has no corresponding Mecklenburg County court files on the online case database.

In 2024, he was twice arrested for misusing 911, but again no case files correspond with those arrests.

In January, he was arrested for the same offense for telling 911 dispatchers a “man-made material” was controlling him, according to court records. He was released on a written promise to appear with no bond. At the time a magistrate released Brown with few conditions he was a three-time convicted felon.

In July, a month before the light rail stabbing, Chief District Judge Roy Wiggins ordered Brown’s mental capacity be evaluated before his 911 abuse case moved forward. If Wiggins’ order was followed, Brown would have been evaluated at least two weeks prior to Zarutska’s death.

Moore on Tuesday demanded Wiggins, who oversees Mecklenburg magistrates, remove the magistrate for failing her duties. Wiggins has not responded to emails and phone calls requesting an interview.

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