DeCarlos Brown, 35, has been accused of fatally stabbing Iryna Zarutska, 23, as she was returning home from work on a tram in Charlotte in August 2025. The murder shocked America.
A man accused of the murder of a Ukrainian refugee in a case that sparked outrage in the United States, leading Donald Trump to call for the death penalty against him, has been declared mentally unfit to stand trial, according to American media reports on Wednesday.
DeCarlos Brown, 35, is accused of stabbing to death Iryna Zarutska, 23, as she was heading home from work on a tram in Charlotte, East of the country, in August 2025.
Local media, including WBTV, reported that psychiatrists deemed DeCarlos Brown to be “incapable” of standing trial, and his lawyer requested a trial postponement.
The case had stirred strong emotions in the United States, particularly among conservatives. Calling the presumed killer an “animal,” Donald Trump demanded a “quick trial” and the death penalty against him on his Truth Social network. White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt, on the other hand, referred to DeCarlos Brown, who had been previously convicted multiple times in the past, as a “monster” who “should have been locked up.”
Footage of the murder, captured by surveillance cameras, was widely circulated by conservative media and social media accounts in support of Trump’s tough crime policy.
Since returning to power over a year ago, the American president has deployed or attempted to deploy troops in several cities led by his Democratic opponents, such as the capital Washington or Los Angeles, under the pretext of combating crime.
