President Trump called Wednesday for the death penalty for Decarlos Brown Jr., accused of fatally stabbing 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte train.
“The ANIMAL who so violently killed the beautiful young lady from Ukraine, who came to America searching for peace and safety, should be given a ‘Quick’ (there is no doubt!) Trial, and only awarded THE DEATH PENALTY,” Trump wrote on TRUTH Social. “There can be no other option!!!”
Surveillance footage shows Zarutska being stabbed repeatedly with a pocket knife while riding a Lynx Blue Line train on Aug. 22.
Brown, 34, now faces a federal charge of committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system, along with state first-degree murder charges.
Attorney General Pam Bondi vowed to “seek the maximum penalty for this unforgivable crime,” saying the suspect “will never again see the light of day as a free man.”
“Iryna Zarutska was a young woman living the American dream — her horrific murder is a direct result of failed soft-on-crime policies that put criminals before innocent people,” Bondi said on X. “I have directed my attorneys to federally prosecute DeCarlos Brown Jr., a repeat violent offender with a history of violent crime, for murder. We will seek the maximum penalty for this unforgivable crime, and he will never again see the light of day as a free man.”
Iryna Zarutska was a young woman living the American dream — her horrific murder is a direct result of failed soft-on-crime policies that put criminals before innocent people.
I have directed my attorneys to federally prosecute DeCarlos Brown Jr., a repeat violent offender with…
— Attorney General Pamela Bondi (@AGPamBondi) September 9, 2025
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