In a disturbing jailhouse call, the man accused of fatally stabbing Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on Charlotte’s Blue Line light rail claimed “materials” inside his body made him do it, the first time he’s spoken about the killing since his arrest.
Decarlos Dejuan Brown Jr., 34, can be heard telling his sister that “whoever was working the materials” caused the attack, adding that he hurt his hand “stabbing her” despite never speaking to the victim. The audio, shared by his sister, tracks with earlier reports that Brown blamed something implanted in his body for his actions.
Decarlos Brown Jr. in an audio recording says he stabbed Iryna Zarutska because a “material in his body” made him do it
Last week, I made the discovery that he was arrested back in January for calling 911 erratically claiming a “man-made material” was controlling his body.
The… https://t.co/PosjuSVvPk pic.twitter.com/ZcZMTZoAdu
— MJTruthUltra (@MJTruthUltra) September 10, 2025
The unprovoked stabbing happened on August 22, 2025, and rattled Charlotte. Surveillance video shows Zarutska, 23, seated on the train moments before the assailant stands and lunges. Police arrested Brown soon after, he was initially charged with first-degree murder in state court. A judge later ordered him held without bond and sent for a competency evaluation, a routine step to determine if a defendant understands the proceedings against them.
As outrage mounted, federal prosecutors stepped in. The Justice Department charged Brown with committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system, a federal offense that can carry the death penalty. Officials framed the killing as a brazen attack on public safety and said they would pursue the maximum penalty allowed by law.
Decarlos Brown Jr. was arrested for stabbing a Ukrainian refugee girl to death. He has a long and disturbing criminal record where he was convicted 14 times. Once he assaulted his sister after he came out of jail. Why was he spared 14 times? pic.twitter.com/EOvSgjs0UX
— Dharmic person🚩 (@thedharmic1991) September 7, 2025
Brown’s family says they had long sounded alarms about his mental health. Local officials and records indicate he has a history of schizophrenia and prior run-ins with the law, a troubled trajectory that included a January arrest for misusing 911 and a string of earlier convictions. The case has since become a flashpoint in Charlotte, fueling debate over how the justice system handles repeat offenders with severe mental illness and whether warning signs were missed.
The jail call adds a chilling, chaotic layer. In it, Brown tells his sister he “didn’t even know the lady,” wondering aloud why “somebody would stab somebody for no reason,” before circling back to the idea that hidden “materials” controlled him. Other accounts indicate he has also claimed he believed Zarutska was reading his mind, a classic paranoid delusion, though his legal team hasn’t publicly addressed the audio. Authorities emphasize that competency to stand trial is a separate legal question from a defendant’s mental state at the time of the crime.
BREAKING: NC lawmakers now calling for the removal of activist Judge Teresa Stokes after releasing 14 time repeat offender Decarlos Brown Jr. caught on video fatally stabbing Iryna Zarutska on the Charlotte light rail.
This murder was preventable.
There must be accountability. pic.twitter.com/6uJZWtZFxE
— Dapper Detective (@Dapper_Det) September 9, 2025
Zarutska’s family, devastated, has called for justice and for her adopted community to remember who she was, a 23-year-old who fled war in Ukraine and was building a new life in North Carolina. City leaders pledged tighter security on the Blue Line and promised a thorough review of emergency response on trains and platforms. Meanwhile, national politicians have seized on the case, and the graphic video, to make broader points about crime and public safety.
For now, Brown remains jailed as state and federal cases move in parallel. The competency evaluation will help determine next legal steps, if prosecutors proceed federally and seek capital punishment, this could become one of the most closely watched transit-crime trials in years.
What is not in doubt is the human cost, a young woman who came here for safety and never made it home, and a city reckoning with how to keep riders safe on a train that is supposed to carry them from point A to point B, not into a nightmare.
