(Ken Silva, Headline USA) The man who stabbed 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska to death on a Charlotte train last month remains in a county jail for now, but a judge has ordered him to be transported to a nearby psych hospital to see if he’s fit to stand trial.
Judge Roy Wiggins initially signed an order on Aug. 29 to send the alleged stabber, DeCarlos Brown Jr., to Central Regional Hospital – Butner Campus for 60 days to “determine the defendant’s capacity to proceed.” However, Brown was never transferred to the hospital.
Days after the judge’s order, the story of his horrendous crime went viral. Local media published partial footage of the gruesome footage, and Headline USA was the first to obtain the full video days later. On the same day this publication published the full video, the Justice Department announced federal charges against Brown.
UPDATE: It looks like the train stabber is going to a psych hospital for a competency evaluation after all. A judge signed another order on Thursday reiterating that he be sent to Central Regional Hospital. He's still in a county jail as of now, a comms person told me. https://t.co/N8pCkgj3TL pic.twitter.com/4HugOy2hNS
— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) September 22, 2025
As all that transpired, Brown remained incarcerated in Mecklenburg County Detention Center. On Thursday, Judge William Stetzer again ordered him to be sent to the Central Regional Hospital for a mental evaluation again.
Apparently, there had been two orders for Brown to undergo a mental exam—an order of a “local forensic capacity exam” and the other for him to be sent to Central Regional Hospital. Judge Stetzer specified on Thursday that the one to send him to Central Regional takes priority.
“The existing Order for a Forensic Examination of the Defendant for Capacity to proceed (to be conducted at Central Regional Hospital) shall make moot any previous orders for Local Forensic examination,” Judge Stetzer said. “The Order for the Central Regional Forensic Exam otherwise remain[s] in effect and unchanged.”
Brown was still at the county jail as of Monday, Mecklenburg County Detention Center public information manager Bradley Smith told this publication in an email.
Headline USA understands that Brown would still likely be incarcerated for the rest of his life, even if he were to be ruled incompetent to stand trial. He also might still face federal charges.
According to local reports, Brown, 34, has a slew of convictions for armed robbery, felony larceny, breaking and entering, and other offenses. His most recent arrest before the stabbing occurred in January, when he called 911 to complain that he had a chip in his brain. Brown, who is reporetedly schizophrenic, was charged with misusing 911.
Meanwhile, Zarutska’s family is mourning her loss. A GoFundMe purportedly established by her family says she “recently arrived in the United States, seeking safety from the war and hoping for a new beginning.”
Ken Silva is the editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/jd_cashless.
