Harrowing audio of 911 calls made in the moments after the fatal stabbing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska has been released by police.
Zarutska, who relocated to Charlotte, North Carolina, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, was stabbed three times in an unprovoked attack while travelling on the city’s Lynx blue line train service.
“A man just f***ing stabbed this woman for no reason,” a panicked man can be heard saying. “On the train. She’s bleeding. She’s bleeding a lot.”
DeCarlos Brown Jr., 34, who has a record of mental illness and previous convictions for armed robbery and other crimes, has been charged with her murder. Surveillance footage of the incident shows a man in a red hoodie sitting in the seat behind Zarutska, before pulling out a pocket knife and then repeatedly stabbing her. She collapsed as he walked away.
Another 911 caller asks for the police, saying: “A girl got stabbed on a train. I think she’s dead man. I think the girl might be dead man.” he adds: “And the guy that did it standing over there on the ramp.”
Another tells the 911 team: “She’s on the train. She’s on the ground right now with people around her. I think they’re holding pressure on the wound site. She looks young. I don’t think she’s responsive right now. There’s a lot of blood.”
Police arrested Brown on the train platform several minutes after the fatal attack. He was then taken to a hospital so he could be mentally evaluated.
Brown had previously been arrested 14 times, with convictions for theft, robbery with a dangerous weapon, and communicating threats, leading to a six-year prison sentence in 2015 for incidents dating to 2013 and 2014. He was released in 2020.
In January this year, while in hospital, Brown told police officers who had been called that he was “being controlled” by a man-made substance. During his interaction with the officers, Brown reportedly became frustrated and dialled 911, asking for the police. The officers on the scene arrested him on a charge of misuse of 911.
Brown had then been released after signing a written promise to appear at his next court hearing. He is now in jail facing a trial for a first-degree murder charge at the state level. He also faces a federal charge of causing death on a mass transportation system.
Both crimes can be punished with life in prison while the federal charge could make him eligible for the death penalty.
The incident sparked renewed debate about public safety and crime across the U.S., with Brown’s own criminal record and concerns about his mental health raising questions about how and why he was released from prison.
President Donald Trump highlighted the attack as he justified his deployment of federal troops to Los Angeles and Washington D.C.
“North Carolina, and every State, needs LAW AND ORDER, and only Republicans will deliver it!,” Trump said on his Truth Social platform.
