A 23-year-old woman was stabbed to death after she fled Ukraine and sought refuge in the United States. The deceased, identified as Iryna Zarutska, fled the war in her home country in hopes of finding safety and a fresh start in North Carolina, where she was reportedly attacked by a homeless man on the night of August 22.
Police say the incident happened around 10 p.m. at a train station in Charlotte. She died from multiple stab wounds.
A GoFundMe page has since been created to provide financial help to Zarutska’s family during this “heartbreaking time”.The page highlighted that Zarutska had “recently arrived in the United States”, and her “life was cut short far too soon”. The statement added that her family has suffered a loss that cannot be recovered from.
Police identified 34-year-old Decarlos Brown Jr, a homeless man with a long criminal history, as the suspect. Brown, who has been arrested multiple times since 2011 for felony larceny, robbery with a dangerous weapon, and communicating threats, was taken to a local hospital with non-life-threatening injuries Friday night before being charged with first-degree murder.
Brown was convicted of robbery with a deadly weapon and received a 5-year prison sentence. After serving time, he was released onto the streets, but he continued to have run-ins with the law. He currently has pending charges for misuse of the 911 system, stemming from a police welfare check in January.
At the time, he told officers that he was given a “man-made” material that was controlling him and wanted them to investigate it. Officers, according to an affidavit, told him he had a medical issue and they could not help, but he became irate and called 911. He was subsequently arrested and charged.
Police are currently probing the circumstances surrounding the attack last week. They have not disclosed whether the fatal stabbing occurred on the train, on the platform, or in the surrounding area. Police also have not released details about what led up to the deadly attack.