Man accused of killing Iryna Zarutska on Charlotte light rail found incompetent to stand trial

The man accused of fatally stabbing Iryna Zarutska aboard a Charlotte, North Carolina, light rail train has been ruled incompetent to stand trial by a federal judge, though prosecutors say they expect his mental capacity to be restored.

U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell on Tuesday adopted findings from a federal evaluator in Chicago — where Mr. Brown had been held for competency observation — that Decarlos Brown Jr. is not mentally competent to stand trial at this time, but that his prognosis for restoration with medication is good. The ruling follows a May 7 motion in which Mr. Brown’s federal public defenders sought a competency hearing after Bureau of Prisons evaluators determined he was “not competent to proceed” in the federal case, finding that his level of mental illness rendered him incapable of assisting in his own defense.

Mr. Brown is accused of killing Ms. Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee, on a Charlotte Area Transit System light rail train in the city’s South End neighborhood on the night of Aug. 22, 2025. Surveillance video captured by cameras on the train appeared to show Mr. Brown sitting in the seat directly behind Ms. Zarutska before standing up and attacking her. Ms. Zarutska died on the train; Mr. Brown exited before being arrested shortly after. 

Under the court order, Mr. Brown will enter a four-month treatment program aimed at restoring his mental capacity, and will remain in federal custody throughout. U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina Russ Ferguson said after Tuesday’s hearing that the examining physician’s assessment was encouraging.

“The doctor that examined him for the competency hearing today found that his prognosis for restoration is very good,” Mr. Ferguson told WBTV. “I think the prognosis is good and we’ll see him stand trial.” 

Mr. Brown had multiple outbursts during the hearing. Mr. Ferguson said it was not entirely clear what Mr. Brown was yelling, but noted that the accused has maintained since the beginning of the case that some kind of material controls him — a claim that factored into the incompetency ruling.

“Under the law, he has to be able to understand the proceedings against him and be able to assist in his defense,” Mr. Ferguson said. “And I think you saw from his actions today — he’s not quite there yet.”

According to a letter his defense attorneys submitted to the court and obtained by Courthouse News, Mr. Brown wrote that he was experiencing a “body emergency” and that someone was “controlling me wrongfully,” claiming he had been misdiagnosed with schizophrenia when he tried to describe the technology he believed was being used on him. 

Mr. Ferguson said prosecutors remain committed to obtaining a conviction that will withstand appeal.

“Our number one goal here is justice for Iryna Zarutska and Iryna Zarutska’s family,” he said. “We have to make sure that we have a case that is airtight on appeal, airtight on post-conviction litigation. We have to make sure the defendant has all the due process that the Constitution affords him, and this is one step in that process.”

Lauren Newton, attorney for the Zarutska family, said questions remain as to whether anything will actually be done to restore Mr. Brown’s capacity so the case can move forward, according to Spectrum News 1. The family’s attorney said the ruling was not a surprise. “This was not unexpected. We have confidence that his capacity will be restored so he can stand trial for what he did to Iryna,” Ms. Newton told the outlet. 

Mr. Brown faces a murder charge in state court and a separate federal charge of violence against a mass transportation system resulting in death, with the two cases proceeding in parallel. His defense has argued that any effort to restore his competency at the state level cannot move forward while he remains in federal custody.

Court records compiled by WBTV show Mr. Brown was charged three times for misdemeanors between 2007 and 2009 — including simple assault, disorderly conduct and resisting a public officer — all of which were dismissed. He was convicted of felony breaking and entering in April 2014 and received a 30-day jail term and 24 months of supervised probation. His record also includes convictions for felony larceny, robbery with a dangerous weapon and communicating threats, resulting in a six-year prison sentence in 2015 for incidents dating to 2013 and 2014. He was released in 2020. 

Mr. Brown’s sister said in April that she had long known of his mental health struggles.

“I just hope both families get justice,” she told Spectrum News 1. “I hope that this situation opened up a lot of people’s eyes on mental health. I hope the state will start taking mental health seriously, so this won’t happen again.”