Overview
- A federal grand jury indicted Decarlos Brown Jr. on a charge of violence against a railroad carrier and mass transportation system resulting in death, a count that makes him eligible for the death penalty.
- Zarutska’s family welcomed the indictment in a brief statement and said they are hopeful for swift justice.
- An affidavit and video describe an unprovoked attack about four and a half minutes into the ride, with the assailant stabbing Zarutska three times before she was pronounced dead at the scene.
- North Carolina enacted House Bill 307, known as Iryna’s Law, which tightens pretrial release for violent offenses and adds an aggravated sentencing factor for crimes committed on public transit.
- Lepidopterist Harry Pavulaan formally described Celastrina iryna, or Iryna’s Azure, in a September report as the first known hybrid introgression among Azure butterflies, noting it flies chiefly in April in South Carolina and that he fast-tracked the dedication after learning of her death.