CHARLOTTE — Decarlos Brown, the man who’s accused of stabbing Iryna Zarutska to death on a Charlotte light rail train, was indicted on a federal charge Wednesday that could land him on death row.
Brown has been in custody since the deadly stabbing on Aug. 22. Channel 9 has reported extensively on the stabbing since police were called to the East-West Station in Charlotte’s South End.
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Zarutska, 23, was a Ukrainian refugee who moved to the Charlotte area in 2022 to escape the war with Russia.
Brown, who was reportedly unhoused at the time of the stabbing, had a history of arrests that included assault and armed robbery.
The federal indictment specifies that the killing happened on a “mass transportation vehicle” while it was carrying passengers.
Since the stabbing, local lawmakers have called for safety improvements on Charlotte’s public safety, and the North Carolina General Assembly passed Iryna’s Law, which enacted changes to pre-trial release and prosecutions.
Brown was arrested immediately after the stabbing and faces state charges in Mecklenburg County for murder.
On Wednesday, Brown was indicted on a federal charge of Violence Against a Railroad Carrier and Mass Transportation System Resulting in Death. The indictment paperwork says if convicted, Brown “may be sentenced to death.”
Brown has been in custody in Mecklenburg County since Aug. 22.
(VIDEO: NC legislature makes progress on Iryna’s Law, targeting safety improvements)
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