A chilling new video has revealed the final moments of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska before she was randomly stabbed to death by a career criminal inside a US train. The woman had fled from war in Ukraine and was starting a new life in the US.
In the video, released by the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS), Zarutska is seen boarding the train wearing her pizzeria uniform t-shirt. She then sits down and scrolls on her phone.
She fled the war, only to be killed in the United States.
— Marta Havryshko (@HavryshkoMarta) September 6, 2025
Twenty-three-year-old Ukrainian Irina Zarutska was fatally stabbed in Charlotte, North Carolina.
The attacker was a 34-year-old man named Decarlos Brown Jr., who has since been detained. pic.twitter.com/bsRktu6NxC
Minutes later, the man sitting behind her, 34-year-old Decarlos Brown Jr, pulls out a folding knife and raises his hand to stab her. The video has been edited to remove the graphic parts.
Police say that he had stabbed her three times, one time in the neck. While Zarutsa clutched her throat and collapsed on the seat, Brown walked through the train car, blood dripping everywhere as other passengers took notice. He then removed his sweatshirt as he waited near the doors.
According to the authorities, Brown exited at the next stop, where a knife was later recovered. Zarutska was found dead in the train on the Lynx Blue Line. The incident occurred around 9:50 p.m. on August 22.
This is the moment an innocent woman was slaughtered simply for sitting down in front of the wrong guy. Demons!
— Lorrie Ann 🇺🇲🇺🇲🇺🇸 (@LorrieAnn25) September 6, 2025
Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian woman, was attacked on a light rail train in Charlotte, North Carolina, on August 22, 2025. The suspect in this case is identified as… pic.twitter.com/p39epaVSZn
Brown was arrested and charged with first-degree murder in Charlotte, North Carolina. He had been arrested multiple times since 2011 for offences including larceny, robbery with a dangerous weapon, and communicating threats. He is homeless and has also spent five years in jail for a robbery with a deadly weapon charge. Other charges against him were dropped.
Brown also has pending charges against him for misuse of 911 calls. He had told authorities that someone had given him a “man-made” material that controlled when he ate, walked, and talked, and he asked them to investigate it.
Investigators have not determined the motive for the attack on the train yet.
Zarutsa’s family has set up a GoFundMe for her where they stated she "recently arrived in the United States, seeking safety from the war and hoping for a new beginning". "Tragically, her life was cut short far too soon… This is an irreparable loss for her family," it said.
