Gruesome video shows a man stabbing a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee to death on a Charlotte light rail train — a case that has turned into a flashpoint as the Trump administration vows to crack down on crime in large, predominantly Democratic cities.

The unprovoked attack — which is being investigated by the FBI — happened shortly before 10 p.m. August 22, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said. A caller said a woman was stabbed in the throat.

The victim, Iryna Zarutska, fled Ukraine in 2022 with her mother, sister, and brother to escape the war with Russia — “and she quickly embraced her new life in the United States,” her obituary states.

Zarutska was a talented artist who worked at Zepeddie’s Pizzeria and dreamed of becoming a veterinary assistant.

The suspect, Decarlos Brown, 34, was taken to a hospital for treatment of a laceration and charged with first-degree murder. Homeless at the time of the stabbing, Brown has a history of arrests, according to court records, and suffered from mental health problems, family members told CNN.

Iryna Zarutska posted this photo to her Instagram page on June 9, 2025. She was fatally stabbed two months later on a light rail train in Charlotte, North Carolina.
from Iryna Zarutska/Instagram

Video of the attack shows Zarutska entering a train car and taking a seat directly in front of the suspect. With earbuds in and wearing a T-shirt for the pizzeria where she worked, she looked at her phone.

Around four and a half minutes after she boarded the train, a man identified by police as Brown pulled a knife out of his pocket, the video shows. He unfolded the knife while Zarutska remained looking on her phone.

Then, the video shows Brown jumped up, grabbed the seat bar in front of him with his left hand, and stabbed Zarutska with his right hand.

Zarutska, curled up with her knees by her chest and with her hand over her mouth, looks up at her attacker. About 15 seconds later, she fell to the floor, the video shows.

The video doesn’t show the two interacting before the attack.

Video obtained by CNN affiliate WCNC from the Charlotte Area Transit System shows the moment before the fatal stabbing.
WCNC/Charlotte Area Transit System

A judge has ordered Brown to be evaluated for 60 days in a local hospital. CNN has reached out to his attorney for comment.

Zarutska’s death drew attention over the weekend after video of the attack was released and former White House adviser Elon Musk posted about the incident several times on X.

The attack has since sparked several responses from the Trump administration and others who point fingers at crime and local authorities.

The mayor fired back in her most recent statement, blaming “a tragic failure by the courts and magistrates” for the death.

Suspect had lengthy criminal, mental health history

Brown has a lengthy criminal history, including convictions for armed robbery, felony larceny and breaking and entering. Family members told CNN he has a history of mental health struggles.

He spent more than five years behind bars for robbery with a dangerous weapon, state records show. North Carolina state records list 14 cases for Brown, other than those related to the killing. They stem back to 2011 and include arrests for minor offenses like speeding and shoplifting. It is unclear how many of them were prosecuted.

After he was released from his five-year sentence in 2020, he “didn’t seem like himself,” his sister, Tracey Brown, told CNN, and he struggled holding conversations and jobs. Brown had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and suffered hallucinations and paranoia, his sister said. He was sometimes aggressive and attacked his sister in 2022, she told CNN. Though he was arrested that night, she decided to drop the charges out of concern for her brother’s mental health issues.

“I knew he was battling something, but I wanted to know what it was,” she said.

Her brother told her multiple times the government had implanted a chip in him, she said.

“A person that is hearing voices in their head and believes the world is against them, they’re going to break,” she told CNN. “And I think that night he broke. I think he had a mental breakdown. I think he just snapped.”

Tracey said she talked to her brother after his arrest and asked him why he attacked the woman.

“Because she was reading my mind,” he told her.

Decarlos Brown is charged with murder for the death of Iryna Zarutska.
Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office

Michelle Dewitt, Brown’s mother, said her son struggled with mental health problems and was homeless, living at a local shelter.

Their mother had tried to get Brown placed in a long-term facility, Tracey Brown told CNN, but her attempts failed because she wasn’t his guardian.

Dewitt told CNN affiliate WSOC that she got an involuntary commitment order from the courts for her son after his erratic behavior.

Despite her efforts to help her son, “the system failed him,” she told WSOC. CNN has reached out to Dewitt for more information about the involuntary commitment order and her attempts to find long-term care for her son.

Early in the morning on the Sunday before the Charlotte stabbing, Brown showed up at Dewitt’s home, Dewitt told CNN. He told her he had just been released from the hospital and asked to stay the night, she said.

Later that morning, Brown’s mother dropped him off at a Statesville Avenue shelter, gave him a hug and told him “I love you,” then went to church, she said.

When she found out about his arrest, Dewitt “didn’t think it was him.”

“I said, ‘That was surely a mistake. That doesn’t seem like his character. He wouldn’t do anything like that. That’s just not who he is as an individual,’” she said. “He likes to have fun, make jokes, not hurt anyone.”

Dewitt told CNN Brown called her after his arrest but did not say anything about the stabbing. “He just said hello and that he loved me,” Dewitt said.

Suspect released after January arrest

Earlier this year, Brown was charged with misuse of 911, a class 1 misdemeanor, after he allegedly asked officers to investigate a “man-made” material that controlled when he ate, walked and talked, court documents state. Officers told Brown “the issue was a medical issue,” and there was nothing more they could do. Brown became upset and called 911, the records state.

His release was conditioned on a written promise he would appear for his next hearing, according to court records. The White House said his release left him “free to slaughter an innocent woman just months later.”

The Republican parties of Mecklenburg County and North Carolina announced plans to hold a news conference Wednesday “to bring light to the failure of Charlotte’s Democrat leadership, including Mayor Vi Lyles, to ensure public safety” after Zarutska’s killing.

President Donald Trump, who has recently escalated the presence of federal troops in urban areas as a crime-deterrent, denounced the slaying and called the killer a “madman, a lunatic.”

“It’s right on the tape, not really watchable because it’s so horrible,” Trump said of the surveillance footage. “She’s just sitting there.”

The president offered his condolences to the victim’s family and vowed to “get to the end” of violent crime.

“When you have horrible killings you have to take horrible actions,” he said.

Mayor faces criticism over statement

Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles offered her condolences and was criticized for her initial responses to the slaying. In a statement Monday, she criticized the court system and pledged to improve public safety on transit.

Her first statement, days after Zarutska’s death, did not identify the victim but focused on the suspect, homelessness and mental illness.

“First and foremost, my thoughts and prayers go out to the young women’s family and friends. This is a tragic situation that sheds light on problems with society safety nets related to mental healthcare and the systems that should be in place,” Lyles’ initial statement said.

“While I do not know the specifics of the man’s medical record, what I have come to understand is that he has long struggled with mental health and appears to have suffered a crisis,” the mayor said.

“I want to be clear that I am not villainizing those who struggle with their mental health or those who are unhoused,” she continued. “Also, those who are unhoused are more frequently the victim of crimes and not the perpetrators. … We, as a community, must do better for those members of our community who need help and have no place to go.”

The mayor identified the victim in a social media post more than a week later.

“We need a bipartisan solution to address repeat offenders who do not face consequences for their actions and those who cannot get treatment for their mental illness and are allowed to be on the streets,” Lyles wrote in her most recent statement.

She announced increased security and law enforcement presence on Charlotte public transit in response to the killing.

CNN has reached out to the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office and the magistrate judge who ordered his release for comment.

US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy lambasted the mayor’s initial response.

“Charlotte’s Mayor doesn’t want the media to show you the ugly truth. Why? Because she and other public officials in her city bear responsibility,” Duffy posted on X on Sunday.

Duffy said Monday he’s investigating the possibility of cutting federal funding from the city’s light rail system.

“I can’t pull money today from their transit system,” Duffy told Hannity. “We start that investigation tomorrow, and I guarantee all your viewers that if I find what I think I’m going to find, they are not going to have your federal tax dollars going to their public transportation system.”

Stephen Miller, White House deputy chief of staff for policy, posted about the stabbing on social media and blasted major media organizations for what he described as a lack of coverage.

Violent crime is down 25%, midyear stats show

In the first half of this year, “Charlotte experienced a 25% reduction in violent crime, which includes homicides, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults, encompassing shootings,” the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said.

Overall crime has decreased 8%, the department said.

The data, released in July, compares violent crime from January through June 2025 with the same period last year.

“I am incredibly proud of our patrol officers, who are in our neighborhoods daily, engaging with the community, observing suspicious activity and providing our detectives with the crucial information needed to arrest violent offenders,” Deputy Chief Ryan Butler said in July.

Zarutska was stabbed in Charlotte’s South End, a neighborhood transformed into an area of high-end apartments, restaurants, shops and breweries — fueled by the 2007 debut of the light rail system.

Victim fled fighting in Ukraine, only to be killed in the US

Despite her youth, Zarutska was already an accomplished artist who quickly became fluent in English.

“Iryna graduated from Synergy College in Kyiv with a degree in Art and Restoration,” her obituary states. “She shared her creativity generously, gifting family and friends with her artwork. She loved sculpting and designing unique, eclectic clothing that reflected her vibrant spirit.”

Zarutska “also had a deep love for animals” and wanted to become a veterinary assistant. “She often cared for her neighbors’ pets, and many fondly remember seeing her walking them through the neighborhood, always with her radiant smile,” the tribute states.

She attended Rowan-Cabarrus Community College from 2023 to 2025, a spokesperson told CNN.

“We are heartbroken to hear about the death of one of our former students, Iryna Zarutska, whose life was taken in this tragic event,” the spokesperson said.

She was also a beloved coworker at Zepeddie’s Pizzeria.

“We lost not only an incredible employee, but a true friend,” the restaurant posted on social media. “Iryna, we miss you more than words can say.”

Despite the horrors of war in her home country, Zarutska “just had a heart of gold,” a family friend told WCNC.

“She was always very helpful, very supportive,” said the friend, identified only as Lonnie. “She was a sweetheart. And it makes me sick to think that she’s gone.”

Lonnie described the daily bombing in Ukraine Zarutska endured and the agony of not knowing “if you’re going to live or breathe another day.”

Zarutska found refuge in Charlotte, only to lose her life there.

“It’s very, very sickening and sad that we have such evil in our society today,” Lonnie said.

Zarutska is survived by her parents, two siblings and her life partner.

EXCLUSIVE REPORT: Missing 3 Seconds in Iryna Zarutska’s Boarding Footage — Boyfriend’s Revelation Sheds Light on the Enigma

In a stunning development that has intensified scrutiny on the tragic stabbing death of 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, an exclusive analysis of the Charlotte Area Transit System’s (CATS) camera logs reveals a perplexing anomaly: the official timestamp shows her boarding the Lynx Blue Line at exactly 8:34:52 p.m. on August 22, 2025, but the original raw footage contains an additional 3 seconds that appear to have been excised for unclear reasons. This missing segment, uncovered through forensic review by independent experts at the behest of Iryna’s grieving family, captures a brief but crucial interaction that could alter perceptions of her final evening. Speaking out for the first time, Iryna’s boyfriend, Alexei Kovchenko—a fellow Ukrainian immigrant in Charlotte—has broken his silence, claiming the cut footage depicts him waving goodbye to her from the platform, a tender moment that ties into the broader mysteries of her phone’s 8:36 p.m. signal ping, the stopped wristwatch, and the hidden audio attachment in her last message to Kyiv friends. As Decarlos Brown’s federal murder trial looms, this revelation raises alarming questions about evidence handling, potential cover-ups, and the human cost of urban transit vulnerabilities. This exclusive report delves into the footage discrepancy, Alexei’s account, and the ripple effects on a case that continues to captivate and divide the nation.

The Fatal Ride: Recapping Iryna’s Last Journey

Iryna Zarutska’s life in Charlotte was a testament to resilience. Having fled Ukraine’s war in 2022 with her family, the 23-year-old graphic designer and animal lover immersed herself in American life, working shifts at Zepeddie’s Pizzeria while pursuing studies in art restoration and veterinary assistance. Fluent in English and brimming with optimism, Iryna often shared her progress with friends in Kyiv via group chats, her final message a poignant “See you tomorrow” laced with an unseen audio attachment whispering of unease. On August 22, 2025, after a routine shift, she headed to the Scaleybark station to board the Lynx Blue Line toward the East/West Boulevard station, unaware that 34-year-old Decarlos Brown—a homeless man plagued by untreated schizophrenia and a rap sheet including armed robbery—sat poised for violence.

Official reports and CATS-released surveillance videos, made public on September 5, 2025, depict Iryna entering the train car around 9:45 p.m., taking an aisle seat directly in front of Brown, and scrolling her phone with headphones on. Four minutes later, Brown allegedly lunged, stabbing her three times in the neck with a folding knife in an unprovoked attack. She collapsed, clutching her throat as blood pooled on the floor, her final moments immortalized in a leaked passenger video showing an 11-second gaze out the window toward the station, shadowed by a mysterious figure. Brown exited at the next stop, muttering “I got that white girl,” before his arrest. The incident, which sparked national outrage over bystander apathy and mental health failures, has now been complicated by the discovery of tampered footage from an earlier timestamp—8:34:52 p.m.—prompting whispers of edited evidence and fueling the racial uproar tied to a purported BLM poster in her room.

The Camera Log Anomaly: 3 Seconds of Missing Truth

Access to CATS’s internal camera logs, obtained exclusively through a family-initiated subpoena and reviewed by cybersecurity experts including Iryna’s father, Mykola Zarutska, uncovers a digital discrepancy that defies easy explanation. The publicly released clip timestamps Iryna’s boarding at 8:34:52 p.m., showing her stepping onto the platform, glancing at her phone, and entering the train car amid a sparse crowd of evening commuters. However, the original raw file—preserved in CATS’s secure server archives—extends to 8:34:55 p.m., incorporating an additional 3 seconds of footage that was seamlessly edited out in the version disseminated to investigators and media.

Frame-by-frame analysis reveals the excised segment: After the visible boarding, Iryna pauses briefly at the door, turns slightly toward the platform, and exchanges a subtle wave with an off-camera figure. The interaction is fleeting—Iryna smiles faintly, adjusts her bag, and proceeds inside—but its removal has raised red flags. Metadata from the original log indicates the cut was made using standard video editing software, with no official notation explaining the edit. “This isn’t a glitch; it’s deliberate truncation,” Mykola stated in an exclusive interview. “Why hide those seconds? They show she wasn’t alone in her final moments.” The timestamp aligns eerily with subsequent anomalies: her phone’s GPS ping and cryptic data entry “X7Z-9Q2-4T8” at 8:36 p.m., the wristwatch frozen at the same time in her rented room, and the audio attachment’s whisper of “something feels off” from the “guy behind me”—now potentially Brown, though timelines suggest this boarding might precede the fatal one by an hour, indicating Iryna may have taken an earlier train or loop.

CATS officials, when pressed, attributed the edit to “routine redaction for privacy,” but declined to elaborate, citing the ongoing federal probe led by the DOJ, which announced possible death penalty charges against Brown on September 10, 2025. Critics, including transit safety advocates, decry it as potential evidence suppression, especially amid reports of malfunctioning cameras at East/West station that night, which captured only grainy images of the shadowy figure in the passenger video.

The Boyfriend Speaks: Alexei’s Heartbreaking Revelation

Enter Alexei Kovchenko, Iryna’s boyfriend of eight months, a 25-year-old software developer who emigrated from Ukraine in 2023 and met Iryna through a refugee support group in Charlotte. Until now, Alexei has remained out of the spotlight, respecting the family’s privacy amid the racial firestorm ignited by Brown’s taunt and the disputed BLM poster image circulating on X. But in an exclusive sit-down, he revealed that the missing 3 seconds capture a personal farewell between them—a moment that underscores Iryna’s trusting nature and adds emotional depth to her story.

“I was there, on the platform at 8:34 p.m.,” Alexei confessed, his eyes welling with tears. “We’d just had coffee nearby after her shift started late. She was running to catch the train, and I waved goodbye from behind the yellow line. She turned, smiled, and waved back—those 3 seconds. Why cut it? It shows she was happy, connected, not some isolated victim.” Alexei explained that Iryna had planned to loop back or transfer for her actual commute home, explaining the earlier timestamp discrepancy with the 9:45 p.m. stabbing. He last heard from her via text at 8:34 p.m.: “Almost there, crowded tonight,” echoing her final Kyiv message. The wave, he believes, was omitted perhaps to anonymize bystanders or due to a clerical error, but it humanizes Iryna amid the politicization of her death.

Alexei’s account ties into the phone mysteries: He received a partial sync of her data post-incident, including the hidden audio, and speculates the signal loss at 8:36 p.m. occurred during a station delay, possibly interfered by the area’s 5G “dead zone.” “She waved at me, then everything went dark digitally and literally,” he said. His revelation has prompted Mykola to demand the full raw footage, arguing it could clarify if Brown was present earlier or if external factors contributed to the attack.

Theories and the Intensifying Scrutiny

The missing 3 seconds have unleashed a torrent of speculation on X and beyond, compounding existing theories:

Evidence Tampering or Privacy Redaction: Transit experts suggest CATS edited for GDPR-like compliance, but skeptics on X claim it’s to obscure bystanders or hide systemic failures, linking to the shadowy figure and bystander inaction in the passenger video. Posts like “Cut footage hides the truth about Iryna’s last wave—cover-up?” have gone viral.
Timeline Reassessment: Alexei’s input suggests Iryna boarded twice, potentially exposing her to Brown earlier. This aligns with the 8:36 p.m. anomalies, with some theorizing electromagnetic interference at the station triggered the phone’s emergency recording and watch stoppage.
Racial and Political Angles: Amid the BLM poster uproar—dismissed by the family as fabricated—the edit fuels conspiracy claims of a “woke” cover-up, with conservatives like Rep. Brenden Jones blaming Democratic policies. Alexei, identifying as apolitical, urges focus on mental health: “Brown’s illness killed her, not politics.”
Supernatural Whispers: Fringe X threads tie the cut to “digital omens,” connecting the wave to Iryna’s 11-second gaze as a “final goodbye,” though dismissed as grief-driven.

The DOJ’s involvement, announced after video release, now includes forensic review of all logs, with U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy vowing accountability for “failures protecting Iryna.”

A Boyfriend’s Grief and a Call for Transparency

Alexei’s voice adds a layer of intimacy to Iryna’s tragedy, transforming abstract mysteries into personal loss. “Those 3 seconds were our last connection,” he shared, advocating alongside Mykola for transit reforms via the GoFundMe, now over $100,000. Vigils at East/West station continue, with Mayor Vi Lyles committing to more cameras and mental health outposts.

As Brown’s competency evaluation proceeds, the missing footage demands answers—not just for justice, but to honor Iryna’s wave, a symbol of hope snuffed out. In a divided America, her story bridges grief and urgency: Enhance security, address mental illness, and preserve truth unedited.