In a GoFundMe set up for her family, 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska was described as someone who “had recently arrived in the United States, seeking safety from the war and hoping for a new beginning.”
Sadly, she would not get that chance. Zarutska boarded the Charlotte (NC) Light Rail system on Friday, August 22nd, just before 10 pm after her shift at a local pizza restaurant, and four minutes later, she was stabbed to death in what police say was a random attack, allegedly by a violent repeat offender who is well known to local law enforcement.
Though the case has gotten plenty of local coverage in the Charlotte area, it hasn’t received much national media attention. That is likely to change with the Friday release from CATS (Charlotte Area Transit System) of video from the train at the time of the violent crime.
The footage shows the suspect, 34-year-old Decarlos Brown Jr., in the moments leading up to the murder, Zarutska boarding the train and sitting directly in front of him, completely oblivious, of course, to what was about to happen, and in the moments after, where he’s seen walking to a train exit with blood dripping, presumably from the knife.
Out of respect for the family, the full video has not been shown to the public. But some Charlotte media outlets have released snippets, and the sheer senselessness and randomness of it just leave you shocked and speechless.
WSOC-TV reporter Joe Bruno watched the full, unedited clip and pointed out that “It should be noted there were several heroic passengers who rushed to Zarutska’s aid. We saw one man take the shirt off his back and attempt CPR.” It’s hard to tell that in the longer clip, which admittedly is choppy, until towards the end:
The CATS chief safety and security officer told WSOC-TV that:
“This individual was sitting down, for all intents and purposes looked like he was just having a normal train ride. There was nothing about his demeanor. He wasn’t sweating. He wasn’t talking to himself. He wasn’t interfacing in a manner that would have triggered attention to him that he was about to do a heinous act. And then all of a sudden, you see his face change. He commits the act and it’s in a split second.”
Some reports have noted that there were security officers on the light rail that night, but not in the car where Zarutska was murdered. They “were riding in the car directly ahead.”
Just days after Zarutska’s murder and as more was being learned about both her and the suspect, I wrote at the time how there were similarities between this case and the case of Jordan Neely, who, as we all know had mental health issues and a history of run-ins with law enforcement in New York City before a May 2023 subway incident where passengers, including Daniel Penny, subdued Neely after he was said to have acted threateningly towards other passengers. Neely was later pronounced dead at a a nearby hospital.
Like Neely, Brown was a repeat offender. Like Neely, Brown had a history of mental health issues that went unchecked. This was despite pleas from his mother and despite police officers repeatedly recommending that he take advantage of local resources. Like Neely, Brown was homeless.
And like Neely, conditions on the ground in Democrat-run Charlotte enabled him to be on the streets to victimize others, with Zarutska, tragically, paying the ultimate price.
In the immediate aftermath of the crime, the locals were struck by how little had been said about it by law enforcement and city officials:
When that time came, it was Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles (D) who issued a statement, spending one whole sentence on the victim before spending several paragraphs talking about mental health and homelessness and how the homeless shouldn’t be stigmatized.
“We will never arrest our way out [of] issues such homelessness and mental health,” she wrote. And for good measure, she added, “Also, those who are unhoused are more frequently the victim of crimes and not the perpetrators.”
Lyles, who is up for reelection this fall, took a lot of heat for putting out a soft-on-crime statement that focused more on homelessness and mental health, and so little on the victim.
Predictably, most of what we’re hearing from the Democrat-run City Council, who are also up for reelection, and Democratic candidates for the offices, continues to revolve around so-called issues like equity, social justice, and affordable housing.
Few are spending much time on citizen safety and combating crime outside of putting out canned statements and trying to pass the buck, even amid reports that continue to pour in about how unsafe people have felt on the Charlotte Transit System, including the buses, due in part to lack of ticket checks and people frequently getting on the light rail with no ticket – something that reportedly happened with Brown as well.
And speaking of statements, Lyles put out another one after the release of the video, thanking the media outlets and “community members” that chose not to share it, and stating that the family needed to be respected. It was kind of rich considering she showed so little respect for the family in her initial statement, where she barely gave Zarutska a mention:
The video of the heartbreaking attack that took Iryna Zarutska’s life is now public. I want to thank our media partners and community members who have chosen not to repost or share the footage out of respect for Iryna’s family.This was a senseless and tragic loss. My prayers remain with her loved ones as they continue to grieve through an unimaginable time.Like so many of you, I’m heartbroken — and I’ve been thinking hard about what safety really looks like in our city. I remain committed to doing all we can to protect our residents and ensure Charlotte is a place where everyone feels safe.
Quite frankly, the only way Charlotte will truly feel safe again is when Democrats no longer control it. But I’m not sure that will ever happen, because like other big blue cities across the country, voting majorities here keep putting the same political party in charge even as things get worse. Wash, rinse, repeat.
– Stacey Matthews has also written under the pseudonym “Sister Toldjah” and can be reached via X. –
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