Trump admin vows Iryna Zarutska’s accused killer will face justice after he’s found mentally incompetent to stand trial
A senior prosecutor in the Trump administration has emphasized that the federal case against the man accused of killing Iryna Zarutska will move forward, regardless of a state court ruling that he is not currently fit to stand trial on murder charges.
Harmeet Dhillon, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights, wrote on X Thursday that she had spoken with the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Charlotte and confirmed that the federal prosecution of Decarlos Brown Jr. remains active and unaffected by recent state court developments. She said Brown remains in federal custody and that the federal case will proceed independently, including its own competency review process.
The update followed a Dec. 29 determination in North Carolina state court that Brown is “incapable to proceed” in his state murder case. That evaluation, conducted at Central Regional Hospital, was not made public at the time and only surfaced this week when defense attorneys filed a request to delay a hearing related to whether he could face a capital trial. The filing sought a 180-day postponement.
Federal officials stressed that the state finding does not alter the separate federal indictment. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina also clarified on X that the two cases are legally distinct, noting that Brown’s federal prosecution is continuing under federal jurisdiction regardless of state competency decisions.
Brown, 35, is accused of attacking Iryna Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee, on August 22, 2025, while she was riding the Lynx Blue Line in Charlotte. Prosecutors allege he sat behind her before suddenly standing and stabbing her multiple times in the neck, then walking away from the scene.
Surveillance footage of the incident reportedly shows Zarutska collapsing in her seat as she bled, while other passengers did not intervene. Brown was arrested shortly afterward and charged with first-degree murder at the state level, in addition to the federal indictment.
The case has drawn national attention due to its brutality and Brown’s criminal history, which authorities say includes 14 prior arrests. At the time of the attack, he had been released on a written promise to appear in court.
The killing has also prompted strong political reaction, including calls from President Trump for the case to be pursued as a capital offense. Federal prosecutors have maintained that, despite the state court’s competency finding, the federal case remains on track and will proceed under its own legal standards.
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