Iryna Zarutska thought she had left death behind. Leaving the hell of her devastated home nation of Ukraine to begin a new life in America, the 23-year-old refugee thought she was leaving her trauma behind. Her search for refuge, however, ended in gruesome fashion on a Friday when she was stabbed to death at the South End light rail terminal in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Police said Zarutska was beaten at 9:55 p.m. Her alleged murderer was 34-year-old Decarlos Brown, a career offender who is homeless and has a long rap sheet, and he was arrested at the scene and later charged with first-degree murder. No motive for the beating was released by authorities, but Brown, who has been through the criminal justice system since 2011, was hospitalized with non-life-threatening injuries when he was arrested.
A New Life Cut Short
For Zarutska, arriving in America was to start anew after having spent years in the shadows of Russia’s unyielding assault of Ukraine, an assault beginning in 2022. Her relatives and friends remembered that she was “hoping for a new beginning.” She instead became the latest casualty in a land from which she had fled for refuge.
“This is an irreparable loss for her family” wrote a GoFundMe campaign setup to pay funeral and other related costs of her aunt Valeria. “We have created this fundraiser to support Valeria and her loved ones during this heartbreaking time.”
A Killer’s Long Rap Sheet
The suspected police killer of Zarutska is familiar to officers. Brown’s rap sheet goes back more than a decade and includes arrests in cases of felony theft, robbery with a dangerous weapon and making threats. Most of those charges, the paper reported, eventually were thrown out. The reportedly homeless Brown embodies Charlotte’s persistent problem of crime, poverty, and institutional breakdown that imperils its citizens.
Public Safety in Crisis
The murder of Zarutska once again ignited discussion of Charlotte’s vulnerable public transportation system. “Right now, the trust and confidence that we do have, and most importantly, from South End to Uptown, it’s so tenuous,” said Councilman Edwin Peacock, who demanded forceful action from the city.
Charlotte has one of the highest violent-crime rates in the country, ranking lower than only 3 percent of all U.S. cities on a safety scale. The stark numbers are these: 7.46 violent crimes for every 1,000 residents, a 1-in-134 odds of being a victim of crime.
For Zarutska, having gone through air raids and shelling by artillery, those chances were deadly unfortunate.
War Abroad, Violence at Home
As Ukraine is bombarded for days on end by Russia, a week ago a barrage of over 100 attack and decoy drones into northern and eastern parts of the country, refugees such as Zarutska pray for peace. Seven days prior, the USA President, Donald Trump, claimed he was arranging Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky peace talks in spite of the Russian lack of interest in an end to its war.
But Zarutska’s experience is a grim reminder of how delicate a survivor’s existence is: from one battlefield to another: America’s streets, where violent crime is a daily occurrence and the vulnerable far too often end up paying the ultimate price.
The post Iryna Zarutska Fled Ukraine For Safety, Only To Be Killed By Homeless Ex-Con In North Carolina appeared first on Where Is The Buzz | Breaking News, Entertainment, Exclusive Interviews & More.
Comments