When news broke about the horrific stabbing of Iryna Zarutska on Charlotte’s Lynx Blue Line, the name DeCarlos Brown Jr. was suddenly everywhere. People were angry. They were confused. But mostly, they were asking one question: How was this guy even on the street?
If you look at the rap sheet, it’s not just one bad day. It’s a decade.
Basically, we’re looking at a 34-year-old man who had been through the Mecklenburg County court system 14 times before the August 22, 2025, attack. It’s a cycle of arrests, dismissals, and short stints that ended in the worst way possible. To understand why this case has become a political lightning rod, you've gotta look at the paper trail he left behind long before he ever stepped onto that train with a pocketknife.
The Early Years: Dismissals and Red Flags
It started small. Or small-ish.
Around 2011, DeCarlos Brown Jr. began popping up in police reports for things like speeding and injury to real property. Honestly, these are the kinds of charges that often get tossed in a busy court system. And they were. District attorneys in Mecklenburg County dismissed many of those early cases, including charges for communicating threats.
Then things got heavier.
In April 2014, Brown pleaded guilty to felony larceny and breaking and entering. You’d think that would be the turning point, right? Nope. He got a suspended sentence of five to 15 months and was put on two years of probation instead of going to a cell.
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The 2014 Armed Robbery: A Turning Point
Four months. That’s how long he lasted on probation before he held a man up at gunpoint.
Court records from August 2014 paint a pretty chilling picture. Brown allegedly paced a south Charlotte apartment complex for a full hour before approaching a victim. He pulled a handgun and demanded everything: a Samsung Galaxy Note, $450 in cash, and even a 100 Lempira note from Honduras.
He was caught the same day at his mother's apartment.
This is where the legal "what ifs" start to pile up. Originally, he was charged with being a felon in possession of a firearm. In many places, that’s a "golden ticket" for federal prosecutors to step in and push for a decade in prison. They didn't. Instead, the state took a plea deal. Brown pleaded guilty to robbery with a dangerous weapon in February 2015.
He was sentenced to a minimum of six years and one month. He ended up serving about five years and seven months at Central Prison before his release in September 2020.
The Post-Prison Spiral
Life after prison didn't go well. Not at all.
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Family members later told reporters that his mental state took a nose-dive after 2020. He was diagnosed with schizophrenia. He talked to himself. He had "angry outbursts." His mother even tried to get him admitted to a hospital, but she was told they couldn't force him to stay.
By September 2022, he was back in handcuffs for assault on a female and injury to property.
Then came 2024. This is the year many critics point to as the biggest "missed opportunity." Brown was arrested twice—once in April and once in May—for misusing 911. He was calling from a hospital, claiming that someone had implanted a "man-made material" in him that controlled his body.
The Final Months and "Iryna’s Law"
By January 2025, the red flags were screaming.
Brown was arrested again for the 911 calls. A magistrate released him on a "written promise to appear." No bail. No mental health hold. Just a signature.
His public defender eventually realized something was seriously wrong and asked for a mental capacity evaluation in July 2025. The judge agreed. But there was a delay. Brown was supposed to present himself for the evaluation within seven days.
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He never did.
Less than a month later, Iryna Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee who had fled a war zone for safety in America, sat down on a light rail train. Brown was sitting right behind her.
Why the Charges Look Different Now
Because the attack happened on a federally funded mass transit system, the Department of Justice stepped in. This isn't just a state murder case anymore. DeCarlos Brown Jr. is now facing federal charges for violence against a mass transportation system resulting in death.
Under 18 U.S.C. § 1992, that’s a death penalty-eligible offense.
The fallout from his previous charges has been so intense that it actually changed the law. In October 2025, North Carolina passed Iryna’s Law. It basically ends "no-cash bail" for people with violent histories and mandates that judges actually look at a defendant's criminal record before letting them walk.
What You Can Do With This Information
It’s easy to get lost in the headlines, but the facts of DeCarlos Brown Jr. previous charges offer a few practical takeaways for anyone following the case:
- Track Court Calendars: If you're a local, you can use the North Carolina eCourts system to see when his next hearings are scheduled. The federal trial and the state murder trial are moving on separate tracks.
- Understand the "Capacity" Defense: Watch for the results of the mental health evaluation. If he is found "incapable to proceed," the trial could be delayed indefinitely while he receives treatment to become "restored" to capacity.
- Advocate for Policy: If you feel the system failed, looking into the specifics of Iryna’s Law can show you how the state is trying to close the loopholes that allowed a "repeat violent offender" to remain at large.
The case of DeCarlos Brown Jr. isn't just a story about a single crime. It's a map of a decade-long breakdown in both the legal and mental health systems in North Carolina.