Inset left: Left to right: Decarlos Dejuan Brown, Jr. (Mecklenburg County Sheriff”s Office). Inset right: Iryna Zarutska (Obituary). Background: The light rail station where Zarutska was stabbed to death in Charlotte, N.C. (Google Maps).
A fundraiser set up for a North Carolina man accused of murdering a Ukrainian immigrant on a light rail train last month was shut down by GoFundMe.
Multiple GoFundMe pages benefiting Decarlos Dejuan Brown, Jr., 34, were documented in screenshots posted by social media users, according to El Paso Fox affiliate KFOX. Brown is charged with first-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of Iryna Zarutska, 23, a Ukrainian refugee living in North Carolina.
On the night of Aug. 22, Brown sat behind Zarutska on a light rail train. As Law&Crime previously reported, the two did not interact until Brown allegedly stood up and began stabbing Zarutska repeatedly. The alleged incident was caught on the train’s surveillance cameras.
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The GoFundMe pages, which have all been taken down by the company, sought to raise money for Brown’s legal fees. Screenshots preserved the language from the pages, which reportedly stated, “While what happened on the Blue Line was a tragedy, what we mustn’t lose sight of is the fact that Decarlos Brown Jr. was failed categorically by the judicial system and the mental health services of North Carolina, and as such is not entirely to blame for what happened.”
A separate page reportedly read, “Raising money to assist with legal fees for Decarlos Dejuan Brown Jr. Anything helps fight against the racism and bias against our people. Thank you for giving us a hand to push against this corrupt narrative.”
Brown, who is listed as homeless in court records, has an extensive criminal history going back to 2013. He served five years in prison in 2015 for robbery with a dangerous weapon, breaking and entering, and larceny. In 2022, two years after he was released, he was arrested again for allegedly assaulting a woman and damaging real property.
In a statement to Law&Crime, a spokesperson from GoFundMe said, “GoFundMe’s Terms of Service explicitly prohibit fundraisers that raise money for the legal defense of anyone formally charged with a violent crime. Consistent with this long-standing policy, all fundraisers for Decarlos Brown Jr.’s legal defense have been removed from the platform, and any donors who contributed have been fully refunded.”
As Law&Crime previously reported, the alleged incident between Brown and Zarutska was caught on the train’s surveillance video. At around 10 p.m. on the night of Aug. 22, Zarutska boarded the train and took a seat directly in front of Brown. The two did not speak or interact with each other. After about four minutes, Brown can be seen standing up behind Zarutska before he allegedly produced a knife and stabbed her several times before walking away.
Zarutska, an artist who had recently escaped the war in Ukraine for safety in the United States, was pronounced dead at the scene. Police apprehended Brown, who was standing on the train’s platform.
According to court records for Brown, the suspect has been ordered to undergo a competency evaluation while in custody. His next court appearance is scheduled for Sept. 19.
Colin Kalmbacher contributed to this report.
