Father of Ukrainian refugee who was knifed to death on North Carolina train could not attend her funeral due to ban on travel for fighting-age men: Tributes pour in for ‘passionate artist’
The father of Ukrainian murder victim Iryna Zarutska could not attend her funeral in Charlotte, North Carolina because of strict rules banning fighting age men from leaving Ukraine, it emerged on Wednesday.
Stanislav Zarutskyi was reportedly ‘devastated’ not to be able to pay his last respects after his beautiful daughter was brutally stabbed to death on a train, allegedly by homeless career criminal Decarlos Brown Jr.
Iryna’s murder last month – captured in chilling CCTV footage – has sparked nationwide shock, with President Donald Trump calling the killing ‘horrible’ and hinting that the city could be the next to see the National Guard deployed.
There was widespread anger that the story was initially ignored by the national liberal media, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and CNN.
Iryna, then aged just 20, was forced to emigrate to the US three years ago at the start of Vladimir Putin‘s brutal war, along with her mother Anna, and two siblings, leaving her father Stanlislav in Ukraine as he is under the age of 60 and unable to leave.
Now, new family photos and video have emerged, showing Iryna playing to the camera with dreams of becoming a catwalk model and simply goofing around with family and friends.
The happy images of a young woman enjoying her life stand in sharp contrast to the mindless savagery of the CCTV showing her last moments alive on a commuter train.
An obituary written by her family says of her that she was ‘a gifted and passionate artist, Iryna graduated from Synergy College in Kyiv with a degree in Art and Restoration.
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The father of Ukrainian murder victim Iryna Zarutska could not attend her funeral in Charlotte, North Carolina because of strict rules banning fighting age men from leaving Ukraine
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Stanislav Zarutskyi, pictured left, was reportedly ‘devastated’ not to be able to pay his last respects after his beautiful daughter was brutally stabbed to death on a train
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Iryna’s murder last month – captured in chilling CCTV footage – has sparked nationwide shock
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Ms Zaruska’s alleged attacker, Decarlos Brown Jr, pictured, did not show any signs of violence or mental distress
‘Father Stanislav was a builder before the war, while her mother was a homemaker in Ukraine with a talent for needlework and crochet.
‘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.’
The memorial goes on: ‘Iryna also had a deep love for animals. She often cared for her neighbours’ pets, and many fondly remember seeing her walking them through the neighbourhood, always with her radiant smile.
‘She dreamed of pursuing a career as a Veterinary Assistant while also working toward her independence by learning to drive.
‘Remarkably, she became fluent in English within a very short time, reflecting her determination and love of learning.
‘Though she enjoyed adventures, sightseeing, and exploring new places with her close friends, Iryna was also a homebody at heart, happiest when surrounded by family and loved ones.
‘Her mother lovingly recalls her ability to sleep for wonderfully long stretches—something she affectionately called an “artist’s gift”.’
Iryna is survived by her parents, Anna and Stanislav; her sister, Valeriia; her brother, Bohdan; her ‘life partner’, named as Stas Nikulytsia.
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There was widespread anger that the story was initially ignored by the national liberal media, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and CNN
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Iryna, then aged just 20, was forced to emigrate to the US three years ago at the start of Vladimir Putin ‘s brutal war, along with her mother Anna, and two siblings
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Now, new family photos and video have emerged, showing Iryna playing to the camera with dreams of becoming a catwalk model
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The happy images of a young woman enjoying her life stand in sharp contrast to the mindless savagery of the CCTV showing her last moments alive on a commuter train
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Iryna graduated from Synergy College in Kyiv with a degree in Art and Restoration
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Iryna graduated from Synergy College in Kyiv with a degree in Art and Restoration
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Iryna pictured with friends. The memorial goes on: ‘Iryna also had a deep love for animals. She often cared for her neighbours’ pets’
She ‘will be remembered for her kindness, her creativity, and the lasting impression she left on everyone she met.
‘Her absence leaves a deep void, but her spirit will forever remain in the hearts of those who loved her.’
The large family, like many, split apart by Putin’s war, ‘always had pets — the children often brought home stray kittens, and their parents could never bring themselves to send the animals back out on the street’.
In her homeland, Iryna ‘worked as a barmaid at the Beer Market shop and was also engaged in the restoration of historical buildings and artefacts.
‘In August 2022, she moved to the United States with her family, settling in Charlotte.’
She studied English and ‘learned quickly in the United States’.
She ‘walked neighbours’ pets and dreamt of becoming a veterinary assistant, while for the time being she worked in a clothing shop and at Zepeddie’s Pizza.
‘In addition, she did some modelling and collaborated with photographer and make-up artist Ulyana Kozlovskaya.’
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Iryna pictured as a child. She ‘will be remembered for her kindness, her creativity, and the lasting impression she left on everyone she met’, her obituary read
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In her homeland, Iryna ‘worked as a barmaid at the Beer Market shop and was also engaged in the restoration of historical buildings and artefacts’
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The statement continued ‘In August 2022, she moved to the United States with her family, settling in Charlotte’
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She studied English and ‘learned quickly in the United States’
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She ‘walked neighbours’ pets and dreamt of becoming a veterinary assistant
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For the time being she worked in a clothing shop and at Zepeddie’s Pizza
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The family are struggling to cope with the intense interest in Iryna’s horrific killing, according to her mother
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‘In addition, she did some modelling and collaborated with photographer and make-up artist Ulyana Kozlovskaya,’ a statement added
Earlier this week, Iryna’s aunt Valeria exclusively told the Daily Mail that Iryna’s mother was too scared to leave the house in Charlotte, following her daughter’s murder.
The 56-year-old, who is Iryna’s aunt through her marriage to husband Frank Scott Haskell, said the family have ‘been living for three years in incredible pain’ with the ongoing bloody war in their native Ukraine.
She said they need ‘time’ and ‘space’ and that they do not want to make a ‘show’ of their grief, adding: ‘I have no words.’
The family are struggling to cope with the intense interest in Iryna’s horrific killing, she said, adding that Iryna’s mother, Anna, is too scared to leave the house.
HEARTBREAKING: Iryna Zarutska’s Father Clings to Her Locked Phone, Haunted by a Password and a Profound Regret
In the quiet of a Charlotte apartment, Mykola Zarutskyi, father of slain Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, holds onto his daughter’s phone as if it were a lifeline to her memory. The 23-year-old, brutally killed on August 22, 2025, in an unprovoked knife attack aboard a Charlotte light rail train, left behind a digital echo of her vibrant life: 30 videos, locked behind a password no one in the family knows. Mykola, stranded in Kyiv due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, shared his anguish in an exclusive interview with Grok News, conducted via a translator. His biggest regret—a decision made months before her death—has left the family in tears and ignited a wave of empathy across social media. “If I had just asked her for that password,” Mykola said, his voice breaking, “we could hear her voice again, see her smile. That regret is killing me.”
Iryna’s story has already gripped the nation, with the release of chilling surveillance footage showing her final moments on the Lynx Blue Line. The video, made public on September 5, captured the young artist and veterinary assistant hopeful scrolling on her phone, unaware of Decarlos Brown Jr., a 35-year-old homeless man with a history of schizophrenia, unfolding a knife behind her. The attack, which occurred around 9:45 p.m. after Iryna’s shift at Zepeddie’s Pizzeria, was swift and merciless. Brown stabbed her multiple times in the neck, leaving her to collapse as he exited at the next station. The footage also revealed a haunting detail: a commemorative necklace, a dove pendant symbolizing peace, slipping from her neck and catching on a chair’s armrest, only to vanish later that day. Now, Mykola’s revelation about the locked videos adds another layer of heartbreak to an already unbearable loss.
The phone, a rose-gold iPhone Iryna cherished, was recovered by police and returned to the family after forensic analysis. It holds a treasure trove of Iryna’s life in America: moments of laughter, art projects, and her volunteer work with animals in Charlotte, where she had settled with her mother, sister, and brother after fleeing Ukraine’s war in 2022. “She was always filming,” Mykola recounted, his words heavy with grief. “She’d send me clips of her dancing, her sketches, even the stray cats she fed at the community college. Those videos were her diary.” But the last 30 videos, recorded in the weeks before her death, are inaccessible, locked behind a six-digit passcode Iryna never shared. Attempts to unlock it through Apple and local tech experts have failed, leaving the family desperate for a glimpse of her final thoughts.
Mykola’s regret stems from a decision made in early 2025, when Iryna visited Kyiv briefly before returning to Charlotte. During that visit, she changed her phone’s passcode for added security, citing concerns about privacy after a friend’s device was hacked. Mykola, a former mechanic hardened by years of war, urged her to focus on settling into her new life rather than worrying about digital threats. “I told her, ‘Don’t complicate things, Iryna. You’re safe in America,’” he recalled, his voice cracking. “I said we didn’t need to know her new password because she’d always be there to share her stories herself. I was so wrong.” That conversation, meant to reassure her, now haunts him as the family grapples with the loss of both Iryna and the unopened window into her heart.
The family’s pain was palpable when they gathered to view the surveillance footage, a moment already marked by tears and silence at the six-minute mark when Brown’s silhouette appeared in a glass door. Iryna’s sister, speaking previously to Grok News under the pseudonym Anya, described the necklace’s loss as a theft of their family’s hope. Now, the locked phone compounds their grief. “We sat together, trying every combination—her birthday, her favorite numbers, even our old Kyiv address,” Anya shared. “Nothing worked. It’s like she’s speaking to us through those videos, but we can’t hear her.” The family’s attempts to unlock the phone have become a ritual of sorts, a painful daily reminder of their fractured connection to Iryna.
The videos’ significance goes beyond sentimentality. Iryna, who held a degree in Art and Restoration from Synergy College in Kyiv, used her phone to document her creative process. Friends in Charlotte, where she studied English at Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, recall her filming time-lapses of her sketches and playful moments with pets she cared for. “She’d narrate her videos like they were little movies,” a friend posted on X, part of a thread that has garnered thousands of likes. “She’d say, ‘This is for my dad, so he knows I’m okay.’ Now he can’t see them.” Mykola believes the locked videos might include messages for him—perhaps her final thoughts before the attack, given her habit of recording late-night reflections after work.
The family’s story has struck a chord online, with #UnlockIrynasPhone trending on X. Users have shared their own stories of lost digital memories, while others speculate about the videos’ contents. “Maybe she recorded something about the necklace,” one post suggested, referencing the dove pendant that symbolized the family’s survival of Ukraine’s war. Others have offered technical advice, urging the family to contact cybersecurity experts or Apple directly, though Apple’s privacy policies limit options without the passcode. A GoFundMe for the family, now exceeding $200,000, includes donations from strangers moved by Mykola’s regret. “No parent should lose their child and then lose their voice too,” one donor wrote.
Mykola’s regret has also fueled broader conversations about Iryna’s death. The attack, carried out by Brown, who had 14 prior arrests and a schizophrenia diagnosis, has intensified debates over public safety and mental health care. Right-wing commentators like Rep. Nancy Mace have cited the case to demand stricter crime policies, while advocates argue for better mental health interventions, noting Brown’s claim that Iryna was “reading his mind.” Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles, addressing the tragedy, announced plans for enhanced transit security, including more cameras and fare enforcement. Yet for Mykola, these measures come too late. “Iryna came to America for safety,” he said. “I let her go alone, thinking she was protected. I didn’t ask for her password. I didn’t insist on picking her up that night. Those are my failures.”
The family’s pleas for help have extended beyond the phone. They’ve renewed calls for information about the missing necklace, last seen on a train chair’s handle, and are advocating for systemic changes to prevent similar tragedies. Iryna’s mother, who watched the funeral via FaceTime from Charlotte, has joined local Ukrainian community vigils, where doves—echoing the necklace’s design—are now a symbol of Iryna’s legacy. “She was our artist, our dreamer,” Mykola said. “Those videos might show her last dreams, her last smile. I need to see them to say goodbye.”
As the investigation into Brown’s federal first-degree murder charges continues, the Zarutskyis hold onto hope that the phone can be unlocked. Tech volunteers in Charlotte’s Ukrainian community are working pro bono, exploring forensic tools, but progress is slow. Mykola, meanwhile, keeps the phone close, its screen dark but its weight heavy with possibility. “Every night, I pray for a miracle,” he said. “To hear her voice one more time. To know what she wanted to tell me.”
The story of Iryna’s locked videos has left supporters in tears, with X posts describing it as “a second loss” for a family already broken. A viral tribute video, showing Iryna laughing and sketching, ends with a plea: “Help her dad unlock her memories.” As Charlotte mourns and the world watches, Mykola’s regret serves as a universal reminder to cherish every moment—and every password—with those we love.
