Accused Murderer of Iryna Zarutska Found Incompetent to Stand Trial by Federal Examiners
Federal examiners have determined that Decarlos Brown Jr., the man accused in the stabbing murder of Iryna Zarutska on board the Charlotte, North Carolina light rail in 2025, “is not competent to proceed” in his federal case because his level of mental illness makes him incapable of participating in his own defense.
Brown’s murder trial has already been delayed due to a state judge finding him incompetent to proceed. Now, the accused’s attorneys want a hearing to put off a federal case of committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system.
According to The Carolina Journal, Brown’s lawyers say that federal mental health evaluators with the Department of Justice’s Bureau of Prisons say Brown is incompetent and unable to assist in his own defense.
The Thursday filing asks a judge to look at a competency hearing for their client.
“DeCarlos Brown suffers from serious mental illness and impairments,” the motion read.
“Our Constitution requires that, before he can be tried, or possibly sentenced to death, he must first be capable of proceeding in his criminal case. Now, federal examiners with the Department of Justice-Bureau of Prisons have determined that Mr. Brown’s mental illness and impairments make him currently incapable of proceeding in his federal criminal case.
“This Court should now set a hearing, find Mr. Brown incompetent, and remand him into the custody of the Attorney General for secure hospitalization and treatment.”
The evaluators found that Brown “has a mental illness … and a mental defect” and “does not have a factual understanding of the legal system or his legal situation because of his mental illness.”
Thus, the examiners found, Brown “cannot make rational case-related decisions because of his mental illness,” and “cannot work with his defense attorneys because of his mental illness.”
“For years, Mr. Brown has suffered from debilitating mental illness and impairment,” Brown’s lawyers wrote in the motion.
“He experiences delusions that center around his belief that he was exposed to a Material and it ‘control[s] his every movement.’ He refers to it as his Body Emergency. The delusions are constant and persistent.”
These delusions were allegedly what led to the last of many charges Brown faced over the years before Zarutska’s murder; months before he allegedly killed the 23-year-old Ukrainian war refugee on Charlotte’s light rail, he was in court on a charge of misusing the 911 system because a “man-made” substance was implanted in his body.
Despite this, and a rather lengthy rap sheet, Magistrate Judge Teresa Stokes released him on a “written promise to appear” in January of 2025.
Footage from the August 2025 stabbing allegedly shows a disturbed Brown shuffling in his seat before suddenly getting up and stabbing Zarutska, who was sitting in front of him, in the neck while she was looking at her phone.
He then reportedly said, “I got that white girl.”
BREAKING: DeCarlos Brown Jr., the man who m*rdered Iryna Zarutska, has been found “incapable to proceed” on state m*rder charges.
The case is now reportedly delayed until Brown’s capacity is deemed “restored.”
HOW IS THIS JUSTICE??? pic.twitter.com/kBUt1vyHsd
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) April 8, 2026
Already, a state judge have granted lawyers for the 35-year-old Brown a 180-day delay in his murder trial after an evaluation at Central Regional Hospital in Butner, North Carolina found that he was not competent to stand trial.
Now, depending on how a judge rules on this latest motion, the same could happen at the federal level.
The U.S. attorney in the case, Russ Ferguson, supports a competency hearing, although his office noted in filings Thursday that just because Brown was found incompetent “does not end the case; a finding of incompetence to proceed is simply a snapshot, meaning at this time the defendant cannot understand the nature and consequences of the proceedings against him or assist properly in his defense.”
“If the Court were to find Brown incompetent to proceed at this moment, Brown would be moved to a specialized BOP facility that provides medical treatment to restore his competency,” lawyers with the U.S. attorney’s office wrote.
“Once availability at the specialized BOP facility is confirmed and Brown is securely transported to the facility, he would undergo medical treatment for a period of time not to exceed four months.”
“While receiving treatment at the BOP facility, Brown may be provided medication to restore his competency, including forced medication if necessary, consistent with constitutional safeguards,” the filing added.
Brown’s next competency hearing on the state charge is Oct. 27.
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