Decarlos Brown Jr., accused of killing the Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska in August 2025, has been found unfit to stand trial in the federal case following a psychiatric evaluation. The ruling temporarily removes the death penalty from the table, Fox News reports.
Brown is now to be transferred to a specialized medical facility under the supervision of the U.S. attorney general. There he will undergo treatment intended to restore his competency to stand trial.
Russ Ferguson, the U.S. attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, emphasized after the hearing that the defendant would not be released. "Let me be clear: he will remain in custody throughout this entire process," he said.
According to Ferguson, if doctors determine that Brown is fit to participate in proceedings, the federal case can be revived—at which point the question of capital punishment will return to the table. "The doctor who carried out the evaluation concluded that the prognosis for recovery is very favorable. So I believe the prognosis is good, and we will see him in the dock," the prosecutor said.
Brown is charged with killing Zarutska aboard a train in Charlotte. According to investigators, he stabbed the woman several times before stepping off the car. Under American law, a defendant found incompetent cannot be tried and cannot be sentenced to death until competency to participate in proceedings is restored.
Earlier, U.S. President Donald Trump had said the killer of Zarutska should be sentenced to death, and pledged to the victim's mother, who attended his State of the Union address, that the United States would secure justice for her daughter.