President Donald Trump calls for death penalty in Charlotte train stabbing case
President Donald Trump on Wednesday called for the death penalty in the case of a Charlotte man who killed a Ukrainian refugee.
Trump wrote on social media that 34-year-old Decarlos Brown Jr., who is accused of killing 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska on a train in Charlotte, “should be given a ‘Quick’ (there is no doubt!) Trial, and only awarded THE DEATH PENALTY. There can be no other option!!!”
On Aug. 22, Zarutska boarded the Lynx Blue Line in Charlotte and sat down in front of a man police identified as Brown. Video released over the weekend showed Brown become fixated on Zarutska and pull out a knife before stabbing her multiple times in the neck and leaving her to die.
The video caused Zarutska’s death to gain national attention, including that of top Republicans like Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson.
Johnson said in a news conference Tuesday that Zarutska’s death deserves national attention. He expressed frustration that Brown had been arrested and released 14 times in the past for crimes that ranged from misuse of the 911 system to robbery with a dangerous weapon to assault on a female.
“We just want to say this loud and clear, and we’re demonstrating it,” Johnson said. “This is not just talk. This is action. Republicans are in charge, and when Republicans are in charge, those days are over, the days of allowing soft-on-crime.”
Brown faces a first-degree murder charge in Zarutska’s death. On Tuesday, U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson announced Brown also faces a federal charge of committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system.
Mental capacity and death penalties
Trump did not specify if he was calling for the death penalty in Brown’s state case or his federal case.
North Carolina has not executed anyone since 2006, according to the Death Penalty Information Center. The Trump administration conducted 13 federal executions between July 2020 and January 2021. Those executions were the Justice Department’s first in 17 years. Since 2021, the country has not seen any other federal executions.
Trump’s call for the death penalty in Brown’s case comes after Mecklenburg’s chief district judge ordered that Brown’s state murder charge could not move forward until a forensic psychologist evaluated Brown’s mental capacity to proceed.
In that Aug. 28 order, Chief District Judge Roy Wiggins found that Brown’s “capacity to proceed is in question” and ordered that a forensic psychologist at a North Carolina state prison evaluate him.
Information on Brown’s evaluation is not yet available. He will be held at Central Regional Hospital in Butner for no more than two months “for observation and treatment,” according to the order.
It is unclear how his state murder charge and ordered evaluation will affect his new federal charge, which was filed in Charlotte’s federal court and announced by the Department of Justice Tuesday.
If Brown is found to be mentally incompetent — meaning he lacks the ability to understand his crime and their consequences — he could be found unfit to stand trial or be found not guilty by reason of insanity in either the state or federal case.
If convicted, Supreme Court rulings could prohibit Brown’s execution if he is later found to be mentally ill or mentally competent.
This is a developing story.
This story was originally published September 10, 2025 at 9:11 AM.
