Why Did Decarlos Brown Jr. Do It? What We Know About the Murder of Iryna Zarutska

A packed evening commute. A quiet car. A stranger stands, and a life changes forever. In late August of 2025, a 23-year-old named Iryna Zarutska boarded Charlotte’s LYNX Blue Line, texting that she was on her way home. Minutes later, surveillance footage shows she was murdered.

The footage of the case is clear and has led to one hard question: Why did Decarlos Brown Jr. do it?

Investigators have laid out a timeline. They have not given a motive. What they have is video, witnesses, and a federal complaint that describes a sudden attack from behind. The case now sits at the intersection of grief, public safety, and justice.

That's the question everyone is asking.

Surveillance video shows Iryna sitting, Decarlos standing and attacking her, and the aftermath as he walks away. The video goes on to show Decarlos walking through the train, and a man is heard saying, “I got that white girl.” The full audio wasn't released right away, but now that it is public, the public wants to know why more people aren't talking about race as a possible motive.

But that's not all. In September, The Daily Mail reported audio was released from one of Decarlos’s jail phone calls. In a conversation with his sister Tracey, just six days after Iryna's killing, Decarlos can be heard offering a rambling explanation.

He claimed it wasn’t him but “the material in his body” that killed her. “I hurt my hand, stabbing her. I don’t even know the lady. I never said not one word to the lady at all. That’s scary, ain’t it? Why would somebody stab somebody for no reason?” he said.

Tracey asked him why he chose Iryna. She is heard in the recording saying, "They had a war going on against the United States, so I’m just trying to understand, of all people, why her?”

He responded: “They just lashed out on her, that’s what happened. Whoever was working the materials, they lashed out on her. That’s all there is to it. Now they really gotta investigate what my body was exposed to. … Now they gotta do an investigation as to who was the motive behind what happened.”

NBC News reports Iryna fled the war in Ukraine, worked multiple jobs, studied English, and had recently moved in with her partner. Her family’s lawyer called her kind and hardworking.

"Iryna came here to find peace and safety, and instead her life was stolen from her in the most horrific way," a family spokesperson said. They want accountability and stronger transit security so no one else meets the same fate.

"Iryna Zarutska was a young woman living the American dream. Her horrific murder is a direct result of failed soft-on-crime policies that put criminals before innocent people," Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement, as reported by NBC News.

Records compiled by WBTV show a long history of arrests and prior convictions for Decarlos. His career-criminal history spans nearly two decades and has fueled public anger over why he was free to ride the train that night.

From 2007 to 2009, he faced three misdemeanor charges, including simple assault, disorderly conduct, and resisting an officer.

Between 2011 and 2013, he was charged with offenses such as communicating threats, shoplifting, larceny, breaking and entering, and property damage, leading to supervised probation.

In 2014, while on probation, he robbed a man at gunpoint. He was convicted of robbery with a dangerous weapon and possession of a firearm by a felon, serving just over five years in prison.

From 2022 to 2024, Decarlos was arrested several times, including for assault on a female and misuse of 911, but WBTV reported the cases were dismissed or left no record.

In January 2025, Decarlos went to jail again for 911 misuse but was released two days later by Magistrate Teresa Stokes in a cashless bail and a “written promise” he would return.

Many feel she shouldn't have been so lenient given his long list of past charges, and Congressman Tim Moore of North Carolina called for her removal.

The Justice Department charged Decarlos with committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system, a federal crime that can carry life or the death penalty. He also faces state murder charges.

Authorities have not stated a motive. We may never know the true answer to why Decarlos murdered Iryna. The only certainty is the cruelty of the act and the hole it left in a family that believed they had found safety.