Video shows Brown being arrested following fatal stabbing
Warning: This article includes distressing content and transcripts of 911 calls related to a fatal stabbing. Listener discretion is strongly advised.
CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Newly released 911 calls reveal the chaotic and terrifying moments after a woman was fatally stabbed on the Charlotte light rail back in August.
The attack occurred on August 22, 2025, at the East/West Station in South End.
Iryna Zarutska, 23, was riding the Blue Line when surveillance video shows her being stabbed. Additional footage released in September shows her alleged attacker, 34-year-old Decarlos Brown Jr., walking along the platform with his hands wrapped in a red sweatshirt.
Witnesses can be seen rushing to get help as police later approach and arrest Brown with guns drawn. Queen City News has now obtained the 911 calls from that night, offering a timeline of how witnesses responded and what they saw in the aftermath.
911: Charlotte 911, do you need police, fire, or medic?
Caller: I need an ambulance.
911: What is the address of your emergency?
Caller: There’s a woman in the train [who] got stabbed and she’s bleeding right now.
911: What is the address of the emergency?
Caller: Hold on. There’s a woman in the train bleeding…stabbing
911: Charlotte 911, do you need police, fire, or medic?
Caller: We need medic and police.
911: What is the address of the emergency?
Caller: It was a stabbing on the train … we’re holding the train at East/West Station.
911: Charlotte 911, do you need police, fire, or medic?
Caller: Police, man, a girl got stabbed on the train.
911: Sir, someone got stabbed on the train?
Caller: Yeah. I think she’s dead, man. I think the girl might be dead, man. Listen, the fire truck just got here, but there’s no police presence. And the guy who did it is standing over here on the ramp. And people are like…
Caller: Hello?
911: Sir, you said that the male suspect who stabbed the female is there on the other platform?
Caller: Yeah, he’s on the other platform. He’s a Black male, with dreadlocks. He’s got his hand wrapped up in a red jacket… his fingers, like, hanging off his hand.
Surveillance video from Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) shows Brown walking away from the train shortly after the stabbing.
CMPD said he was arrested at the scene and is now facing a charge of first-degree murder and a federal charge of committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system.
A Mecklenburg County grand jury indicted Brown in September. He remains at the Mecklenburg County Detention Center. A judge had ordered him to undergo a mental health evaluation at Central Regional Hospital in Butner, NC, for up to 60 days to assess his ability to stand trial.
Brown has not yet entered a plea. If he does not request a formal arraignment within 21 days of receiving the indictment, a not guilty plea will be entered on his behalf.
This case is due back in court in October.
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