A disturbing new video captures the final moments of a Ukrainian refugee’s life before she was fatally stabbed on a Charlotte light rail train last month.
The surveillance footage, shared by the Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS), depicts 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska boarding the Lynx Blue Line shortly after 9:45 p.m. on Friday, August 22.
The footage shows Zarutska in her pizzeria uniform while scrolling on her phone. A man in a red hoodie is seen sitting behind her.
Around four minutes later, the man pulls out a knife and begins stabbing Zarutska three times, including at least once in the neck.
Zarutska’s tragic death has sparked renewed demands for improvements in public safety in Charlotte. Following Zarutska’s murder, members of the Charlotte City Council voiced their concerns regarding the violence affecting the city’s transit system.
L-R: A mugshot of Decarlos Brown; Surveillance footage showing Brown on the light rail trains. (Mecklenburg County Sheriff’s Office; CATS)
Rep. Brenden Jones, a Republican representing the area, attributed Zarutska’s death to “the outcome of years of Democrat DAs and Sheriffs prioritizing their progressive agendas over public safety.”
He wrote on X that, “Violent criminals commit crimes with impunity, while families live in fear.”
