'Building her young life': Officials share details about Iryna Zarutska, woman killed in Charlotte stabbing

Ryan Oehrli, The Charlotte Observer on Sep 9, 2025

By clicking submit, I authorize Arcamax and its affiliates to: (1) use, sell, and share my information for marketing purposes, including cross-context behavioral advertising, as described in our Privacy Policy , (2) add to information that I provide with other information like interests inferred from web page views, or data lawfully obtained from data brokers, such as past purchase or location data, or publicly available data, (3) contact me or enable others to contact me by email or other means with offers for different types of goods and services, and (4) retain my information while I am engaging with marketing messages that I receive and for a reasonable amount of time thereafter. I understand I can opt out at any time through an email that I receive, or by clicking here

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A U.S. attorney and regional FBI leader fought off tears Tuesday as they recalled their conversation with Iryna Zarutska’s family at a news conference in Charlotte.

Zarutska, who was 23, was just “building her young life,” Charlotte FBI Special Agent in Charge James Barnacle Jr. said.

She fled to Charlotte from Ukraine in 2022 to escape Russia’s invasion of her country.

Last month, as she rode the light rail through South End, Decarlos Brown Jr. stabbed her to death. Footage of the killing has sparked outrage in Charlotte and across the country. President Donald Trump has said she was “slaughtered by a deranged monster.”

U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson and Barnacle said they spoke with Zarutska’s mother and uncle moments before the news conference announcing a federal charge. An FBI translator helped make the conversation possible, they said.

“They wanted to talk about their daughter,” an emotional Ferguson said of the conversation.

Zarutska had been staying in a bomb shelter in Ukraine before coming to the United States, the men said. She had a degree in art and restoration from a Kyiv college, Barnacle said. The special agent added that she quickly settled into Charlotte when she came to the city.

“She made friends,” Barnacle said. “She immediately got a job the first day she was allowed to work; she got a work permit here ... She worked at a senior citizen center. She worked at a pizza place. She took care of animals in the neighborhood ... She had recently moved in with her partner.”

The killing happened as she came home from work, Ferguson confirmed.

The Ukrainian Embassy called and said it could facilitate her return to the country, he said.

“Her family said, ‘No. She loved America. We’re going to bury her here,’” the U.S. attorney recalled.

Brown faces state and federal charges: murder in Mecklenburg County and committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system in federal court.

______