Charlotte leaders demand action after fatal stabbing at light rail station

Multiple Charlotte City Council members called for immediate steps to improve public safety on the city’s transit system after the fatal stabbing of a 23-year-old woman on a light rail train and other recent incidents of violence.

Iryna Zarutska was found dead shortly before 10 p.m. Friday at the light rail station at 1821 Camden Road in South End, according to Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police. Decarlos Brown, 34, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder.

At Monday’s council meeting, council members also brought up an incident from a video by WSOC-TV that shows a 57-year-old veteran being “attacked” by four people on a CATS bus in Pineville. The station is the Observer’s news partner.

At-large Council member Dimple Ajmera called on City Manager Marcus Jones “to provide us immediate steps that are being taken to ensure the safety of our riders and operators and to restore the confidence in our system.”

“We cannot let fear drive people away,” she said.

District 4 representative Renee Johnson also requested an update from CATS’ security team.

Failing to take action could jeopardize Charlotte’s plan to overhaul the region’s transportation system, District 6 Council member Edwin Peacock III said. Mecklenburg voters will decide the fate of a referendum to raise the county’s sales tax to pay for road, rail and bus projects this November.

“I know from my experience of living in Washington, D.C., and having lots of friends in Atlanta that the moment where the transit system starts to become something where it’s not considered to be safe is the moment in which you begin to lose riders, to lose momentum,” Peacock said.

CMPD declined Monday to say if the stabbing happened on a train, on the platform, or nearby, The Observer reported earlier Monday. Police haven’t said whether Zarutska knew the suspect or what led up to the stabbing.

Zarutska moved to Charlotte from Ukraine due to the war in her native country, according to a GoFundMe established to support her loved ones.

“This is an irreparable loss for her family,” the GoFundMe page said.

Charlotte Observer reporters Jeff Chamer and Joe Marusak contributed to this story.

This story was originally published August 25, 2025 at 8:04 PM.

Mary Ramsey

The Charlotte Observer

Mary Ramsey is the local government accountability reporter for The Charlotte Observer. A native of the Carolinas, she studied journalism at the University of South Carolina and has also worked in Phoenix, Arizona and Louisville, Kentucky. Support my work with a digital subscription