CHARLOTTE — Hundreds of people are expected to honor Iryna Zarutska one month after she was stabbed to death on the light rail at the East/West Station in South End.
Zarutska was a Ukrainian refugee seeking a new start in the US. Police said she had no interaction with her attacker, DeCarlos Brown. Brown is facing state and federal charges.
Tonight at the East/West station, there will be multiple ministers praying and offering reflections in both English and Ukrainian.
Organizers will also call on the city of Charlotte to rename the East/West station after Zarutska.
All of this comes as state lawmakers address issues they say allowed DeCarlos Brown to be out on the street despite his mental health issues and violent past.
They include tighter restrictions on cashless bail, requesting judicial officials to review the defendant’s criminal history before setting conditions of release, and requiring judges and magistrates to order involuntary commitment evaluations if they believe a defendant is a danger to himself or others.
“That particular defendant would not have been out of custody based on the changes we made in this pretrial release bill,” said Senator Danny Britt.
The House is taking up the bill tomorrow. The vigil for Zarutska starts in South End at 8 p.m.
WATCH: Man arrested for pretending to be security, bringing weapons on light rail
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