The man accused of fatally stabbing Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte commuter train in August has been found incompetent to stand trial in federal court for now, the US attorney’s office for the western district of North Carolina said on Tuesday.
Decarlos Brown Jr, 35, is accused of killing Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee, on a Charlotte light rail train in a case that drew national attention after a surveillance camera video depicting the violent attack was released.
Brown appeared in federal court on Tuesday morning for a competency hearing, and during the short proceeding he was “found incompetent to stand trial at this time”, the US attorney’s office said in a statement.
“However, the judge found Mr Brown’s prognosis to become competent is good and ordered that Mr Brown be given treatment,” the statement continued. “Mr Brown will remain in federal custody while he obtains treatment and for the duration of his case.”
The office added that the finding on Brown deals strictly with the constitutional definition of competency, which involves his ability to understand the proceedings and assist in his own defense. “It has nothing to do with the facts of the case or the stabbing that occurred on Charlotte’s light rail,” the US attorney’s office added.
Russ Ferguson, a US attorney of the western district of North Carolina, said in a statement: “This case weighs on our hearts every day, and our chief concern is obtaining justice for Iryna Zarutska and her family.
“This is a step in the process to ensure we have a solid case that can withstand appeal.”
In September, Brown was federally charged with one count of committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system, an offense that carries up to life in prison or the death penalty, according to the US justice department.
He also faces a state charge of first-degree murder in Zarutska’s 22 August 2025 slaying. In April, Brown was deemed incapable of proceeding to trial on the state murder charge on similar grounds as Tuesday’s ruling.
An April hearing in the state murder case was reportedly delayed until October.
According to North Carolina television news outlet WRAL, the federal judge in Tuesday’s hearing ordered Brown to be hospitalized for up to four months so medical professionals can evaluate him and determine whether treatment can restore his competency to continue with the case.
WRAL reported that there will be another hearing to assess if he is mentally fit to stand trial when he is released from hospital.
After the hearing on Tuesday, WRAL reported that Ferguson told a reporter that he is “very hopeful” that Brown’s competency will be restored. “The doctor [who] examined him for the competency hearing today found that his prognosis for restoration is very good, so I rely on the doctors there,” he said. “I think the prognosis is good, and we’ll see him stand trial.”
Brown has a documented history of prior arrests, other legal problems and mental health issues. His attorneys argued in May that Brown “suffers from serious mental illness and impairments” and have said that “examiners with the [justice department and the federal Bureau of Prisons] have determined that Mr Brown’s mental illness and impairments make him currently incapable of proceeding in his federal criminal case”.
Ahead of Tuesday’s hearing, Brown’s attorneys submitted a letter that he wrote to the court.
In the letter, which appears in the court docket, Brown wrote: “I would like to tell the court I have a body emergency. Someone has full access to my body and they are controlling me wrongfully. And law enforcement refuses to investigate it. And it requires an investigation.
“When describing the technology someone was using I was misdiagnosed with schizophrenia.”