White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks about Iryna Zarutska stabbing on Charlotte, NC light rail (Photo by Jordan Conradson)
The Trump administration has vowed that DeCarlos Dejuan Brown Jr., the 35-year-old homeless career criminal accused of brutally stabbing Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska to death on a Charlotte light rail train, will face full federal prosecution and justice.
The promise comes after a North Carolina court ruled that Brown is mentally incompetent to stand trial on state murder charges.
U.S. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon directly addressed the controversy on X Thursday, confirming that Brown remains in federal custody and that the federal case is unaffected by the state proceedings.
“Folks: I had a great call this morning with our US Attorney in Charlotte. Brown remains in federal custody and so the parallel state proceedings are in no way dispositive. There will be a federal competency determination and prosecution track taking precedence,” Dhillon wrote.
Folks: I had a great call this morning with our US Attorney in Charlotte.
Brown remains in federal custody and so the parallel state proceedings are in no way dispositive. There will be a federal competency determination and prosecution track taking precedence. https://t.co/fpQkX6xF5Z
— AAGHarmeetDhillon (@AAGDhillon) April 9, 2026
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of North Carolina reinforced the message, writing, “DeCarlos Brown is in federal custody on a federal indictment. The state proceedings, including any competency finding in those proceedings, are completely separate.”
DeCarlos Brown is in federal custody on a federal indictment. The state proceedings, including any competency finding in those proceedings, are completely separate. https://t.co/yomEpaUPn4
— U.S. Attorney WDNC (@USAO_WDNC) April 8, 2026
As The Gateway Pundit previously reported, on Tuesday, Brown’s state public defender filed a motion revealing that a court-ordered competency evaluation completed in December at Central Regional Hospital found him “incapable to proceed.”
Mecklenburg prosecutors agreed to delay a key hearing on whether to seek the death penalty in the state case for another 180 days.
On August 22, 2025, 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska, who had fled the war in Ukraine seeking safety in the United States, boarded the Lynx Blue Line light rail in Charlotte around 9:55 p.m.
Surveillance video shows Brown, seated behind her, pull out a knife, unfold it, and stab her multiple times in the neck and upper body without any warning.
Brown then calmly walked off the train, leaving her to bleed out in her seat while many witnesses simply looked away.
Officers arrested him moments later on the platform.
Brown had been arrested 14 times prior to the killing, including for armed robbery, and had served prison time. He was free on a cashless bond for a misdemeanor charge of misusing the 911 system at the time of the attack.
Now, Brown faces state first-degree murder charges and a separate federal indictment for violence against a mass transportation system resulting in death.
The federal charge carries a maximum penalty of life in prison or the death penalty.
President Donald Trump has publicly demanded justice in the case since shortly after the murder, calling Brown an “animal” and urging the death penalty.
The case also prompted the passage of “Iryna’s Law” legislation in North Carolina aimed at tightening bail policies for violent offenders and improving involuntary commitment procedures for the mentally ill.
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