Man charged in Charlotte light rail killing declared incompetent

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (CN) — A homeless man accused of stabbing a Ukrainian refugee to death on a Charlotte light rail train was declared incompetent to stand trial by a federal judge Tuesday morning.

Decarlos Brown Jr., a 35-year-old homeless man, was federally charged with committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system last September, after 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska was killed on the light rail. Brown has also been charged with first degree murder by the state, but that is on hold awaiting the results of his federal case.

U.S. District Judge Kenneth Bell found that Brown was incompetent in a short hearing Tuesday. Brown will be hospitalized for no longer than four months to see if he can be restored to competency.

Brown, who appeared in the courtroom, attempted to speak to the judge several times despite Bell asking him to stop, making comments about “informing Donald Trump,” threatening future litigation and someone “refusing to investigate.” His attorneys gave Bell a letter from Brown in advance of the hearing, which was not read aloud or shown to the public.

In the letter later filed with the court Brown wrote, “Someone has full access to my body and they are controlling me wrongfully.” He added, “When describing the technology someone was using I was misdiagnosed with schizophrenia.” He asked for law enforcement to investigate his “body emergency.”

Neither the government nor Brown’s attorneys raised additional arguments about his competency during the hearing.

Brown, who is in federal custody, should be hospitalized and treated for up to four months, his attorneys argued in briefings. That should give doctors time to determine if Brown can become competent to stand trial so his federal case can move forward.

Brown has suffered from debilitating mental illness for years, his attorneys wrote, and has delusions that he was exposed to something that controls his every movement. The delusions are constant and led to Brown calling 911 prior to Zarutska’s death because he felt he was a victim of a crime.

“The court finds that the uncontradicted evidence is the defendant is incompetent to proceed to trial,” Bell said.

A licensed clinical psychologist submitted an evaluation of Brown in April, concluding that he isn’t competent now but has a good prognosis if medicated. The evaluation is sealed, but Bell said it affirms Brown has a mental illness, does not understand his legal situation because of that illness, and cannot work with his defense attorneys or make case-related decisions because of his health.

If Brown requires forced medication to be restored to competency, there will be another hearing. The parties will return to court at the end of his hospitalization to determine if he is fit to stand trial, which could then be scheduled.

In case Brown is found unable to stand trial, he will likely either remain psychiatrically hospitalized or held in a secure prison medical facility. Bell added that even if he is acquitted, Brown may still be institutionalized.

Brown will remain in federal custody now, emphasized Russ Ferguson, U.S. attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, who said he is in contact with Zarutska’s family and their attorney.

“Our number one goal here is justice for Iryna Zarutska and Iryna Zarutska’s family,” Ferguson said. “In this process we have to make sure that we have a case that is airtight on appeal, airtight on post-conviction litigation. We have to make sure the defendant has all the due process that the Constitution affords him. This is one step in that process.”

Brown’s attorneys wrote in a briefing, “Our Constitution requires that when a defendant like Mr. Brown is too mentally ill and impaired to understand the nature and consequences of the criminal case against him, or to work with his defense team, he cannot be tried or sentenced to death.”

His attorneys declined to comment at the end of the hearing.

Zarutska, who came to North Carolina in 2022 while fleeing the Russo-Ukrainian war, was killed in August 2025 while taking the Lynx Blue Line on the light rail in Charlotte. The case attracted national attention after the Charlotte Area Transit System released footage of the stabbing, and President Donald Trump recognized her mother during his 2026 State of the Union address, calling Brown a “deranged monster."

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