Boyfriend of Ukrainian refugee who was stabbed to death on train blasts judge for letting suspect free
A man reported to be the boyfriend of the woman who was fatally stabbed on a train last month has reposted videos of accounts hitting out at the judge who let the suspect free.
Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian refugee living in Charlotte, North Carolina, was stabbed to death on a train on 22 August.
After footage of the incident went viral, suspect Decarlos Brown Jr, 34, was arrested and charged with first-degree murder over the unprovoked attack on the 23-year-old.
According to Zarutska's obituary, she fled Ukraine with her mum, brother and sister to escape the war with Russia in 2022.
Advert
"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," the family said in a statement.
"No family should have to go through this."
She messaged her boyfriend that she 'would be home soon'.
"Upon arriving at the station, they were devastated to learn that Iryna had died at the scene," the family's attorney said.
The Post has named her boyfriend as Stanislav 'Stas' Nikulytsia, who had been living with her in Charlotte for the past year.
Taking to Instagram, Nikulytsia reposted clips criticising Magistrate Judge Teresa Stokes, who was said to have freed Brown on cashless bail seven months before the knife attack.
Congressman Tim Moore has called on North Carolina House Republicans to sign a letter for Stokes' removal.
“North Carolina’s justice system failed Iryna Zarutska. She came to Charlotte looking for safety and a better life, but instead, she was brutally murdered by a repeat offender who never should’ve been let back on the streets,” said Congressman Moore.
“Judge Stokes had the chance to protect the public and chose not to. It’s clear that she’s unfit to hold this consequential position and should be removed from the bench immediately.”
Brown, who was said to be homeless and suffering from mental health issues, had 14 prior criminal arrests before the incident, reports the Mirror.
His mother told a local TV station that she tried to have him involuntarily put in to a psychiatric hospital after he started displaying violent behaviour.
The suspect's sister had a face-to-face jail visit with Brown, who she called 'a paranoid schizophrenic', after the incident.
“When I went to visit him, he was mumbling and talking to himself,” Tracey Brown told The Post.
“And I said, ‘Well, what’s on your mind?’ He looked at me and he was like, ‘I have to get you to.’ And I said, ‘What do you mean you have to get me?’ He said, ‘You and mama. Y’all are being trafficked.’ And I said, ‘Well, how are we being trafficked?’ And he said, ‘The government is trafficking y’all to get to me.'”
It comes after the attorney's statement said 'Iryna had built a new life in Charlotte' and that she was 'working full-time at a local pizzeria while attending community college to improve her English'.
"She was a kind and hardworking young woman, deeply loved by her family and friends," the statement read.
"That night, she texted her boyfriend that she would be home soon.
"Tragically, her journey ended in violence near the Camden light rail station."
Topics: World News, Crime, News, Ukraine, US News
Anish Vij