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yesterday

Reports Detail Suspect’s Family Criminal Records in Charlotte Train Killing Case

New coverage spotlights criminal histories in the accused killer’s family during the ongoing prosecutions.

A Charlotte candidate for city council, James Bowers, speaks about the killing of Iryna Zarutska
Screengrabs from the tribute montage Iryna Zarutska's friends posted.
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On August 22, 2025, Zarutska was stabbed three times in the throat with a pocket knife while riding the train.

Overview

  • Court and law-enforcement records describe the suspect’s brother serving a 27- to 36-year sentence for a 2012 killing linked to a light-rail escape, while his sister and father have multiple arrests, according to reported records.
  • Federal prosecutors have charged Decarlos Brown Jr. with causing death on a mass transportation system in addition to a state first-degree murder count.
  • The federal charge carries a potential penalty of life imprisonment or execution, according to the Department of Justice.
  • A Justice Department complaint says surveillance video captured the attack and shows the suspect leaving the train with blood on him.
  • Victim Iryna Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee, was stabbed in the throat on August 22 on Charlotte’s Blue Line, and the case has renewed scrutiny of mental-health failures cited by the suspect’s relatives.