A North Carolina court has determined that 35-year-old Dekarlos Brown is mentally incompetent to stand trial for the alleged murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska. This ruling, reported by local media, follows an evaluation conducted at a regional hospital.
Court documents indicate that Brown faces state murder charges as well as federal charges that could result in the death penalty. A report dated December 29, 2025, concluded that he is “unfit for trial.” His attorney has requested a 180-day postponement for a hearing regarding his mental competency, a request that prosecutors did not oppose.
The judge is now tasked with deciding whether to accept the findings of the report. Proceedings against Brown are likely to be delayed until the court determines that his competency has been “restored,” according to WBTV.
Iryna Zarutska, aged 23, was fatally stabbed in August 2025 while riding a city train in Charlotte, North Carolina. Surveillance footage captured the incident, showing Brown repeatedly attacking Zarutska shortly after she boarded the train while returning home from her job at a local pizzeria.
Brown has a lengthy criminal history, having been arrested and released at least 14 times prior to this incident. The motives behind his attack on Zarutska remain unclear.
The case has drawn significant attention, including comments from former President Donald Trump, who described the murder video as “horrific” and criticized local policies regarding bail in a city governed by Democrats.
Zarutska fled to the United States in August 2022 to escape the ongoing war in Ukraine, accompanied by her mother, sister, and brother. She graduated from Synergy College in Kyiv with a degree in arts and restoration and was employed at Zepeddie’s pizzeria in the U.S.
A court in North Carolina has ruled Dekarlos Brown mentally incompetent to stand trial for the murder of Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian refugee. The ruling follows a psychiatric evaluation and has implications for the timeline of the case.