Questions about mental health access arise in aftermath of Charlotte light rail stabbing

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Charlotte is in the national spotlight after last week’s release of the video showing the random, violent attack of a 23-year-old woman on the light rail.

It’s leading to questions about the criminal justice system, how it handles repeat offenders, and access to mental health care. The suspect, Decarlos Brown, has a lengthy criminal history. Back in July, a judge ordered him to undergo a psych evaluation, which never happened.

“Just like there’s a backlog on court cases, there’s a backlog on forensic evaluations,” said Queen City News Chief Legal Analyst Khalif Rhodes.

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Rhodes said just because a judge orders a suspect to be evaluated doesn’t mean it happens immediately.

“I had a guy back in 2024 it was ordered in January, it didn’t happen until early 2025,” he said. “That was an entire year of waiting for them to have an opening at Central Regional.”

That’s the state-run psychiatric hospital in Butner where Brown will now spend 60 days with forensic experts to determine his mental capacity. The order came from a judge, as Brown faces charges in connection with the murder of Iryna Zarutska. She was riding on the light rail the night of August 22 when video captured the moments leading up to and immediately following her death.

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“The fact that he could engage in an act like that and then immediately go back into a calm, almost kind of comatose frame and walk away, that was one of the biggest, most glaring signs that there was likely something that wasn’t quite right with him mentally,” said Dr. Charryse Johnson, a mental health expert.

Johnson said Brown’s alleged behavior after the attack is telling, but not beforehand, when he sat behind Zarutska for minutes seemingly keeping to himself.

“There were no signs, right?” she said. “It looked like a very simple day with people off to themselves, sitting down, and riding home. That is one of the most challenging aspects of mental health is you cannot always see how someone is feeling.”

Earlier this year, Brown, who’s homeless, was charged with misuse of 911. Court documents show he asked officers to investigate a man-made material he claimed controlled when he ate, walked, and talked.

“What we do find is that when people are homeless, they do lose access to quality care because they may not have jobs, they may not have life insurance, and on a systematic level, we don’t have anything in place or we have very little that’s in place to meet their consistent needs,” said Johnson.

Dr. Johnson hopes that advocates will make sure mental health treatment is available to everyone… regardless of socioeconomic status.

“There’s no way to completely prevent anything horrible from happening, but it’s at least helpful for us to pay attention, be aware of our surroundings, to do the things that we can,” she said.

Johnson also noted that some Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police officers are trained to respond to mental health calls, so if you see or sense anything that could be out of the ordinary. It’s best to be safe and give them a call.

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