By Holly Yan, Jeff Winter

(CNN) — The suspect in the grisly slaying of a young woman on a Charlotte, North Carolina, light rail train now faces a federal charge in a case that has turned into a political lightning rod in the country where she had come to seek safety.

Iryna Zarutska fled Ukraine in 2022 with her mother, sister, and brother to escape the war with Russia “and she quickly embraced her new life in the United States,” her obituary states.

But on the night of August 22, moments after she texted her boyfriend to say she would be home soon, a man sitting behind her on the train stabbed her three times in the throat in an unprovoked attack.

The suspect, 34-year-old Decarlos Brown, had a long rap sheet and now faces a state charge of first-degree murder and a federal charge of committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system.

The federal charge comes with the possibility of the death penalty – a punishment President Donald Trump said he supports in this case. Prosecutors were still investigating, the US attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, Russ Ferguson, said Tuesday.

Democratic and Republican leaders have traded barbs over whom or what is to blame in this case — and for violence nationwide. The debate simmers against the backdrop of the Trump administration vowing to fight crime by deploying federal troops in predominantly Democratic cities.

Here’s what we know about the case polarizing opinion across the country.

Death penalty on the table as officials trade blame

While the attack occurred last month, the case reached a national audience last week with the release of surveillance video showing the killing.

In the wake of the killing, Charlotte’s Democratic mayor, Vi Lyles, initially released a statement that did not significantly address the victim and instead focused on offering empathy to the suspect and addressing homelessness and mental illness. A follow-up statement notably thanked the media outlets for not sharing video of the stabbing.

But under mounting criticism and after the video’s released by transit officials, the mayor this week released another statement that blamed the attack on “a tragic failure by the courts and magistrates” and announced increased security on the transit system.

“We need a bipartisan solution to address repeat offenders who do not face consequences for their actions and those who cannot get treatment for their mental illness and are allowed to be on the streets,” Lyles wrote.

On Wednesday morning, North Carolina Republicans, including from its 12th congressional district, spoke at a light rail station in Charlotte to criticize what they called the “soft on crime” politics in the Democratic-led city.

“Remember, Iryna Zarutska survived in Ukraine in a bomb shelter,” said Kyle Kirby, chair of the Mecklenburg County Republican Party. “In war-torn Ukraine, she made her way from that country to Charlotte, seeking refuge and promise, and she was given the edge of a knife.”

Local, state and national Republicans have accused Lyles and other Democrats who lead Charlotte of installing criminal justice policies at the expense of public safety. They said a man with Brown’s record shouldn’t have been on the streets at all.

The US Department of Transportation on Wednesday opened an investigation into the light rail transit system in Charlotte “to determine whether they are taking the necessary actions to keep riders and transit workers safe.”

In response, the Charlotte Area Transportation System said it “remains fully committed to working collaboratively with our local, state, and federal partners. These relationships are essential to our mission, and we value the trust and cooperation they represent as we continue working together to support our region’s transit system.”

The mayor said Wednesday the transportation system will add 30 more security personnel and will ”deploy new security teams including bike patrols and urban terrain vehicles in the coming weeks.”

Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he’s investigating the possibility of cutting federal funding from Charlotte’s light rail system.

“I can’t pull money today from their transit system,” Duffy told Fox News’ Sean Hannity on Monday. “We start that investigation tomorrow, and I guarantee all your viewers that if I find what I think I’m going to find, they are not going to have your federal tax dollars going to their public transportation system.”

Suspect said victim ‘was reading my mind,’ his sister says

For years, loved ones struggled to find the defendant in the case the care he needed, family members said.

Brown had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and suffered hallucinations and paranoia, his sister Tracey Brown said. She said her brother told her multiple times the government had implanted a chip in him.

“I knew he was battling something, but I wanted to know what it was,” she said.

Brown was sometimes aggressive and attacked his sister in 2022, Tracey Brown told CNN. Though her brother was arrested that night, she decided to drop the charges out of concern for his mental health issues.

But it wasn’t Brown’s only run-in with the law. He has several convictions on his record, including for armed robbery, felony larceny and breaking and entering.

Brown spent more than five years behind bars for robbery with a dangerous weapon, state records show. After he was released in 2020, he “didn’t seem like himself” and struggled to hold conversations and jobs, his sister told CNN.

Their mother had tried to get him placed in a long-term facility, Tracey Brown told CNN, but her attempts failed because she wasn’t his guardian. She said she talked to her brother after his arrest and asked him why he attacked the woman on the train.

“Because she was reading my mind,” he told her.

His January release stokes controversy

Earlier this year, Brown was charged with misuse of 911, a class 1 misdemeanor, after he allegedly asked officers to investigate a “man-made” material that controlled when he ate, walked and talked, court documents state.

Officers told Brown “the issue was a medical issue,” and there was nothing more they could do. Brown became upset and called 911, the records state.

A condition of his release was his written promise to appear for his next hearing, according to court records. The White House said his release left him “free to slaughter an innocent woman just months later.”

CNN has reached out to Brown’s public defender, the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office and the magistrate judge who ordered his release for comment.

Even though Charlotte’s mid-year stats show a 25% decrease in violent crime compared to the same time last year, Trump said North Carolina needs reform.

“North Carolina, and every State, needs LAW AND ORDER, and only Republicans will deliver it!,” Trump said on Truth Social.

The refugee had ‘a heart of gold’

From Ukraine to the US, those who knew Zarutska said she brimmed with potential. The talented artist quickly became fluent in English, found work at a pizzeria and dreamed of becoming a veterinary assistant.

Zarutska graduated from Synergy College in Kyiv with a degree in art and restoration, her obituary says.

“She shared her creativity generously, gifting family and friends with her artwork. She loved sculpting and designing unique, eclectic clothing that reflected her vibrant spirit.”

Zarutska “also had a deep love for animals,” the tribute states. “She often cared for her neighbors’ pets, and many fondly remember seeing her walking them through the neighborhood, always with her radiant smile.”

She attended Rowan-Cabarrus Community College from 2023 to 2025, a spokesperson told CNN. She was also a beloved coworker at Zepeddie’s Pizzeria.

“We lost not only an incredible employee, but a true friend,” the restaurant posted on social media. “Iryna, we miss you more than words can say.”

Despite the horrors of war in her home country, Zarutska “just had a heart of gold,” a family friend told CNN affiliate WCNC.

“She was always very helpful, very supportive,” said the friend, identified only as Lonnie. “She was a sweetheart. And it makes me sick to think that she’s gone.”

Lonnie described the daily bombing Zarutska endured in Ukraine and the agony of not knowing “if you’re going to live or breathe another day.” But no one expected Zarutska to die so young in Charlotte. “It’s very, very sickening and sad that we have such evil in our society today,” Lonnie said.

Zarutska was a kind, hardworking young woman who had built a new life in Charlotte, her family said in a statement.

“We are heartbroken beyond words. Iryna came here to find peace and safety, and instead her life was stolen from her in the most horrific way,” a family spokesperson said. “No family should have to go through this.”

The grieving family is now demanding change, citing a “lack of visible or effective security” on the Charlotte Area Transportation System Blue Line. CNN has reached out to CATS for comment.

The family also called for a full investigation into her death, for city officials to enact reforms and for the media to stop spreading footage of the stabbing.

“This could have been anyone riding the light rail that night,” the family said. “We are committed to making sure this never happens again.”

CNN’s Mia Blackman, Sophia Peyser, Dianne Gallagher and Eric Levenson contributed to this report.

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