(9 Sep 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
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ASSOCIATED PRESS
Charlotte, North Carolina – 9 September 2025
1. SOUNDBITE (English) Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney, Western District of North Carolina:
"Our hearts go out to Iryna’s family. They are suffering like any of us would be. It was a very touching call. Our hearts go out to them. She is a refugee. She literally came to the United States from a bomb shelter in Ukraine to escape the war and she was going about her day. She was coming home from work on a light rail train , like all of us do all the time, and she was brutally murdered. As a native of Charlotte, I’m so sad to say that our city has gotten to this place."
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2. SOUNDBITE (English) Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney, Western District of North Carolina:
"Now Decarlos Brown Jr., who we allege, uh , stabbed Iryna Zarutska, is in state custody on first-degree murder charges . But I’m here today to announce that we’re going to supplement those state charges with federal charges. These federal charges will go alongside the murder case in state court, uh , and they, we hope that they will ensure justice for Iryna, for her family and for the whole Charlotte community."
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3. SOUNDBITE (English) James C. Barnacle, Jr., FBI:
"We will continue to work with US Attorney Ferguson, The Department of Justice under director direction of Attorney General Pam Bondi. And the FBI Director Patel to pursue justice for Iryna and her family and for the people of Charlotte."
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STORYLINE:
Federal charges have been added alongside state murder charges against a man accused of stabbing a Ukrainian immigrant to death on a light rail train.
Officials in Charlotte are facing sharp criticism over the fatal stabbing of a young Ukrainian refugee on a commuter train last month, a killing that quickly drew the attention of President Donald Trump and MAGA allies who blame Democrats for what they say is out-of-control crime in blue cities.
Critics say the death of Iryna Zarutska, 23, could have been prevented, and they’re blaming officials for failing to keep a man with a history of mental illness, arrests and erratic behavior off the streets before he killed her. Trump wrote on his social media platform on Monday that “Criminals like this need to be LOCKED UP.”
The suspect, Decarlos Brown Jr., 34, had served time in prison, been briefly committed for schizophrenia and was arrested earlier this year after repeatedly calling 911 from a hospital.
Zarutska had come to the United States to escape the war in Ukraine, relatives wrote in a GoFundMe post, describing her as determined to build a safer life.
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