Mother, sister of Charlotte stabbing suspect describe history of mental illness

Decarlos Brown Jr., 34, was charged with the fatal stabbing of Iryna Zarutska.

The mother and sister of Decarlos Brown, the suspect in the fatal stabbing of a Ukrainian woman on Charlotte light rail, say that he struggled with mental illness for years after being released from prison and that he claimed there was a “material” in his body that controlled him.

Brown, 34, was arrested on Aug. 22 after police say he stabbed 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska three times while riding the Lynx Blue Line in Charlotte, according to an affidavit obtained by ABC News.

In audio recordings of a conversation between Brown and his sister several days after his arrest, obtained by ABC News, Brown maintains that he has “material” in his body that caused him to attack Zarutska.

“Make sure it was me that did it, not the material. And I’m telling you, the material did it,” Brown said, according to the recordings.

The suspect can be heard telling his sister that he did not “even know the lady at all.”

Decarlos Brown Jr., 34, was arrested on Aug. 22 for stabbing a 23-year-old woman on Charlotte’s light rail, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department

“I never said not one word to the lady at all. That scary, ain’t it? So, like, why would somebody stab somebody for no reason?” Brown can be heard telling his sister.

Brown has been charged by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of North Carolina with committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system, which could make him eligible for the death penalty, the Department of Justice said Tuesday.

“This brutal attack on an innocent woman simply trying to get to her destination is an attack on the American way of life. Of course, crimes like this affect the victim the most — Iryna deserves justice, and we will bring justice to her and her family,” U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson said in a statement on Tuesday.

Brown’s sister and mother said they noticed a difference in his behavior following his incarceration, which ended in 2020, and that it got worse over the three years since he was released.

Brown’s mother, Michelle Dewitt, said her was son was diagnosed with schizophrenia and after his time in prison, he “was different.”

“He wasn’t the normal Carlos, the fun Carlos,” Dewit told ABC News in a separate interview.

The 34-year-old suspect has a criminal record including larceny and breaking and entering charges. He also spent five years in prison for robbery with a dangerous weapon starting in 2015, according to the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction. He was also arrested this year for misusing the 911 system, according to court records.

In total, Brown has been charged 14 times in the past, including an arrest in January, but was “still on the streets” leading up to the attack, North Carolina FBI Special Agent James Barnacle Jr. said on Tuesday.

Iryna Zarutska in a photo posted to her Instagram.
Iryna Zarutska/Instagram

Brown’s mother told ABC News that after her son had been released from prison in 2020 after serving time for armed robbery, “he was different” and began showing violent behavior like slamming doors and yelling in her face. While he was living with her, he would also walk around the home and talk to himself, Dewitt said.

Dewitt said her son had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and had been given medication, but she said he refused to take it.

Dewitt said she grew increasingly concerned about the safety of her and her husband and took Brown to a mental health hospital. She said the hospital told her they didn’t have enough room to admit Brown and because he wasn’t threatening to hurt himself, they couldn’t take him.

She said the hospital told her, “You can’t make a person come” to the facility.

Dewitt said she was left with no option but to go to court to file with a magistrate a petition for her son to get help. As a result of that, she said, a mental health facility kept Brown for 14 days, but eventually released him back to her and her husband’s care.

Iryna Zarutska, who is not pictured, was stabbed to death in an unprovoked attack while riding the light rail in Charlotte, North Carolina, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
Charlotte Area Transit System

She said she had hoped to keep Brown on a schedule and to create a routine for him, but it didn’t work after he stopped taking his medication.

“We’re just not going to do it anymore,” Dewitt said of how she and her husband were feeling at the time. “We dropped him off at a shelter.”

The mother identified that shelter as the Roof Above Lucille Giles Men’s Shelter in Charlotte, which is run by a nonprofit organization called Roof Above.

ABC News reached out to the shelter, but no one from the shelter was immediately available to comment.

In recent months, Dewitt said she has seen her son on the street, walking up and down, and her younger daughter would see him riding the bus.

When he was arrested in January for misusing 911, she said he kept saying “he had a chip in him,” and that “the police put it in him.”

According to the affidavit from Brown’s arrest in January, officers were responding to a welfare call when Brown told them he believed someone gave him a “man-made” material that controlled what he ate and how he walked and talked.

Brown’s next court appearance in is scheduled for Sept. 19, according to court records. It is unclear whether Brown has an attorney who can speak on his behalf.

Brown’s sister, Tracey Brown, said she is not trying to excuse her brother’s alleged actions.

“At the end of the day, I’m not making any excuse for what happened,” she said. “I am saying that if he had the proper care this wouldn’t have happened.”

EXCLUSIVE: Iryna Zarutska’s Sister Reveals the Commemorative Necklace That Vanished in Her Final Moments

By Grok News Desk September 17, 2025 – Charlotte, North Carolina

In an exclusive interview with Grok News, the younger sister of Iryna Zarutska, the 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee tragically stabbed to death on a Charlotte light rail train last month, has broken her silence about a poignant detail from the surveillance footage that has haunted the family. Speaking on condition of anonymity to protect her privacy amid the ongoing media frenzy, the sister—let’s call her “Anya” for this report—revealed the story behind a commemorative necklace Iryna was wearing that fateful evening. The delicate silver chain, adorned with a small pendant shaped like a dove, was last glimpsed in the video dangling from the handle of a chair after the attack. But it disappeared later that day, leaving the family in a mix of grief and mystery. “When we saw it in the footage, it broke us all over again,” Anya said, her voice trembling. “That necklace wasn’t just jewelry—it carried our family’s hopes and survival story. Its meaning… it left everyone speechless.”

The release of the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) surveillance video on September 5, 2025, has already sparked national outrage and intense scrutiny of public safety, mental health support, and criminal justice policies. The footage, captured on the Lynx Blue Line around 9:45 p.m. on August 22, shows Iryna boarding the train after her shift at Zepeddie’s Pizzeria in Uptown Charlotte. Dressed in her work T-shirt and baseball cap, she settles into a seat, scrolling on her phone with earbuds in, unaware of the danger behind her. For the first four minutes, the scene is eerily ordinary. Then, Decarlos Brown Jr., a 35-year-old homeless man with a history of schizophrenia and violent crimes, unfolds a pocket knife and strikes without warning, stabbing Iryna multiple times in the neck. She collapses, clutching her throat as blood spreads across the floor, while Brown wanders the car before exiting at the next stop.

But amid the horror, Anya’s revelation adds a deeply personal layer to the tragedy. The necklace, which Iryna is seen wearing around her neck in the early frames of the video, slips off during the struggle and ends up hooked on the armrest of a nearby chair. “You can see it clearly at the 5:45 mark,” Anya explained, referencing the timestamp from the extended footage released by authorities. “She’s fighting for her life, and it falls away—like a symbol of everything she was losing.” The family only noticed it upon multiple viewings of the video, which they watched together in a private session with police investigators. “We paused it there, and my uncle just… stopped talking. We all did. It was like seeing a piece of her soul left behind.”

The commemorative necklace was no ordinary accessory. Crafted by Iryna herself in Kyiv before fleeing Ukraine in 2022 amid Russia’s full-scale invasion, it was a handmade tribute to her family’s resilience. The dove pendant, engraved with the Ukrainian word “Мир” (Myr, meaning “peace”), was made from salvaged silver from her grandmother’s old earrings—items that had survived multiple air raids during the war. Iryna, an accomplished artist with a degree in Art and Restoration from Synergy College in Kyiv, poured her creativity into it as a family heirloom. “It was for all of us—for Mom, for me, for our brother,” Anya shared. “Grandma passed it down before she died in a bombing. Iryna restored it into this necklace to remind us that even in darkness, peace could return. She wore it every day since we arrived in America, like a talisman for our new life.”

Anya’s account sheds light on why the necklace’s disappearance has amplified the family’s anguish. After the attack, emergency responders and police secured the scene, but in the chaos of transporting Iryna’s body and processing evidence, the item went missing. “We asked about it immediately,” Anya said. “The police said they’d check the train and the station, but nothing. It vanished later that day—maybe picked up by a passenger, or lost in the cleanup. We don’t know.” The family has launched a quiet plea through social media and local Ukrainian community groups, hoping someone might come forward. A GoFundMe set up for the family has raised over $150,000, with many donors leaving messages about the necklace’s symbolism. “If anyone has it, please return it,” Anya urged. “It’s not about the value—it’s about getting a piece of her back.”

The meaning behind the necklace has resonated far beyond the family, leaving observers “speechless” in interviews and online discussions. For Iryna, who dreamed of becoming a veterinary assistant and often volunteered with animals in Charlotte, the dove represented not just peace but freedom—the very reason she fled Ukraine with her mother, sister, and brother. “She came here for safety,” Anya emphasized. “That necklace was her way of carrying home with her. Seeing it abandoned on that chair… it felt like the world took everything from her, even her hope.” Friends who knew Iryna echoed this sentiment. In a tribute video shared on X (formerly Twitter), one pal recalled Iryna fiddling with the pendant during barbecues, saying it “kept her grounded.” The video, which captures her laughing and dancing against the Charlotte skyline, has garnered millions of views, with comments flooding in about the “lost dove” as a metaphor for the refugee’s shattered dreams.

This revelation comes at a time when Iryna’s story has become a flashpoint in national debates. Right-wing figures, including former President Donald Trump and commentator Ben Shapiro, have cited the case to criticize “soft-on-crime” policies in Democratic-led cities like Charlotte, pointing to Brown’s 14 prior arrests, including armed robbery and assault, and his recent release after a mental health evaluation. “Iryna Zarutska’s murder is a direct result of failed policies that put criminals before innocent people,” U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi posted on X. On the other side, advocates for mental health reform argue that Brown’s untreated schizophrenia—marked by hallucinations, including a claim to his sister that Iryna was “reading his mind”—highlights systemic failures in care, not just criminal justice. Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles has called the attack “senseless and tragic,” committing to increased patrols on the light rail while thanking media for respecting the family’s wishes not to repost the graphic video.

The family, still reeling from watching the footage—where tears turned to silence at the six-minute silhouette of Brown—now grapples with this additional loss. Iryna’s uncle, speaking previously to ABC News, described her as “the glue of the family,” full of life and generosity. Her father, remaining in Kyiv due to the war, viewed her burial via FaceTime, compounding the distance. “One week ago, we let her take the train alone for independence,” he had lamented. Now, with the necklace’s story emerging, Anya hopes it humanizes Iryna beyond the headlines. “She wasn’t just a victim. She was an artist, a dreamer, a sister who made that necklace to say we’d make it. Its disappearance feels like another theft.”

Social media has amplified the necklace’s lore. Posts on X reference the “dove of peace” as a symbol of what America promised but failed to deliver to refugees like Iryna. One viral thread, with over 10,000 likes, speculates on its whereabouts, urging CATS to release more footage from the cleanup. Even celebrities have weighed in; rapper DaBaby, after backlash for a tribute video, shared the family’s GoFundMe and mentioned the necklace as “a sign of her pure heart.” Rep. Nancy Mace posted: “Iryna’s lost necklace reminds us: Protect the innocent, reform the broken system.”

As federal charges against Brown escalate to first-degree murder, with prosecutors seeking the maximum penalty, Iryna’s family clings to memories and calls for change. Enhanced mental health screenings for transit riders, better fare enforcement, and support for refugees are among their demands. “That necklace was her peace,” Anya concluded. “We just want it back—and for no one else to lose theirs.” The search continues, a small but symbolic quest amid profound loss.

In Charlotte’s Ukrainian community, vigils now include drawings of doves, honoring Iryna’s artistry and spirit. Her obituary notes her fluency in English, her love for animals, and her radiant smile while walking neighbors’ pets. As the investigation unfolds, the disappeared necklace stands as a haunting emblem: a fragile hope snagged in tragedy, waiting to be reclaimed.