Decarlos Brown Jr., the homeless man now accused of fatally stabbing 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte light rail train, comes from a family with a long history of criminal activity.
Court records reveal his older brother, Stacey Dejon Brown, is currently serving a 27- to 36-year sentence for the 2012 shotgun slaying of a 65-year-old man during a robbery.
A History of Criminal Behavior
Decarlos Brown Jr.’s sister, Tracey Vontrea Brown, also has a criminal record spanning misdemeanor shoplifting, larceny, felony conspiracy, and vehicle theft. She was most recently arrested in 2024 for similar charges.
Their father, Decarlos Brown Sr., has a history of arrests for breaking and entering, felony conspiracy, and possessing a weapon on a university campus.
The Murder of Iryna Zarutska
In August 2025, Decarlos Brown Jr. was charged with the fatal stabbing of Iryna Zarutska, a refugee from war-torn Ukraine. Zarutska was attacked while riding the Charlotte light rail and was stabbed three times in the throat.
Brown Jr. was caught on surveillance footage leaving the train car with blood dripping from him. The unprovoked attack came as Zarutska likely attempted to return home after a long day of work.
Stacey Brown’s Violent Past
The Brown family’s criminal ties stretch back to 2012 when Stacey Brown used the Charlotte light rail to flee from police after murdering Robert Heym during a robbery. Stacey Brown and his accomplice, Roderick Derrick Crawford, were arrested, and Stacey later pled guilty to second-degree murder and other violent crimes.
The Impact on the Community
The tragic death of Zarutska highlights a cycle of violence that has plagued the Brown family for years. The Department of Justice has filed federal charges against Brown Jr. for the stabbing, and local officials are working to hold him accountable for this senseless act of violence.
The FBI’s Charlotte special agent in charge, James C. Barnacle Jr., emphasized that everyone in this country deserves to live without the fear of being attacked while going about their daily lives.
