Decarlos Dejuan Brown Jr., who has been federally charged in the Aug. 22 killing of 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte light rail train, comes from a family with an extensive history of arrests and convictions, court and law enforcement records show.
Federal authorities announced this week that Brown Jr. is charged with one count of committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system. The Department of Justice said a complaint filed in federal court includes surveillance images and alleges Brown was captured on camera leaving the train car with "blood dripping from him" after Zarutska was stabbed three times in the middle of her throat. Local prosecutors previously charged Brown in state court with first-degree murder.
Court records and jail logs reviewed by media outlets show Brown Jr.'s older brother, Stacey Dejon Brown, pleaded guilty in 2014 to second-degree murder and a string of violent offenses tied to the October 2012 fatal shooting of 65-year-old Robert Heym. Prosecutors said Stacey Brown and an accomplice robbed and shot Heym, then fled via the Charlotte light rail. Stacey Brown was sentenced to 27 to 36 years in prison.
Their sister, identified in public records as Tracey Vontrea Brown, has a criminal history that includes misdemeanor shoplifting, larceny, felony conspiracy, vehicle theft and resisting public officers. Mecklenburg County jail records show multiple bookings, including a Jan. 23, 2024 arrest for misdemeanor shoplifting and concealment of goods and a May 15, 2024 booking on charges of misdemeanor larceny and felony conspiracy.
Their father, identified in media reports as Decarlos Brown Sr., has also faced arrests, including allegations of breaking and entering, felony conspiracy, larceny and possession of a weapon on a university campus, according to reporting citing public records. Requests for comment to family members documented in those records were not returned.
The Department of Justice described the Aug. 22 attack as captured on train surveillance video. According to the federal complaint, Brown Jr. allegedly used a pocketknife to stab Zarutska, who had fled Ukraine for the United States. The affidavit said she was stabbed three times in the middle of her throat and that Brown left the train with blood visible on his clothing.
James C. Barnacle Jr., the FBI special agent in charge in Charlotte, said in a statement that "Iryna Zarutska had likely taken that train ride many times before. She was probably tired after a day at work and just wanted to go home, but tragically she never made it." Barnacle added federal prosecutors hoped the charge would help bring Zarutska's family a measure of justice.
Brown Jr. was taken into custody days after the attack and has been processed in the Mecklenburg County jail system. Authorities have said the fatal encounter appeared random and unprovoked; federal prosecutors moved to bring the mass-transit homicide charge after local authorities filed state murder charges.
Advocates for Zarutska's family and community members called for accountability in the wake of the killing. GoFundMe and other crowdfunding pages tied to the case drew attention in early reporting, with some fundraisers removed from the platform after scrutiny.
The case has prompted renewed scrutiny of safety on public transit in Charlotte and questions about how prior incidents tied to members of the same family appeared to echo elements of earlier violent episodes. In the 2012 case that led to Stacey Brown's conviction, prosecutors said the suspects used the light rail to flee the scene after the killing.
Legal proceedings in the federal case are pending. Brown Jr. faces the federal count in addition to the state first-degree murder charge. Court schedules and filings will determine whether the federal prosecution proceeds first or if state proceedings continue independently.