On August 22, 2025, 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska boarded a light rail train in Charlotte. She was heading home from her shift at a local pizza place and sat down in front of Decarlos Brown, Jr. While Zarutska looked at her phone, believing this was a normal commute home, Brown stood up and stabbed Zarutska multiple times, including in the neck. Video from the train showed Zarutska's stunned face and watched as she bled out while other passengers tried to help her.
Brown was a known criminal with more than a dozen prior arrests. He was taken into custody shortly after the stabbing, and the crime gripped the nation as proof of the Democratic Party's pro-criminal policies that put the lives of innocent Americans at risk. North Carolina legislators passed Iryna's law in October of last year, which established the state's pretrial release laws, eliminated certain cashless bail practices, required involuntary mental health evaluations for specific defendants, and increased oversight of magistrates.
At the time of Iryna's murder, former Democratic Governor and Senate candidate Roy Cooper took his time commenting on the murder, issuing a statement through a spokesperson. Cooper later doubled down, blaming Republicans for the stabbing and making the absurd claim that Republicans were the ones who defunded the police.
Now it's clear why Cooper deflected on the Zarutska murder. His policies are what led to her death, because Decarlos Brown, Jr. may have been released by Cooper as part of a mass inmate release program related to COVID.
Iryna Zarutska is dead because of radical Roy Cooper's soft-on-crime policies.
— Senate Republicans (@NRSC) February 4, 2026
He released her killer onto North Carolina's streets. pic.twitter.com/O7gOm6ec6y
As former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper runs for the U.S. Senate, the killing of a young woman on a Charlotte light-rail train is triggering renewed scrutiny of a prison-release deal approved under his administration and whether the accused killer was among those freed.
Republican officials say records are raising urgent questions about whether DeCarlos Brown Jr., the parolee charged in the fatal stabbing of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska, was tied to a 2021 COVID-era settlement that authorized the early release or transition of 3,500 incarcerated individuals.
Prosecutors say Zarutska was stabbed to death aboard a Charlotte light-rail train by Brown, a repeat offender with an extensive criminal history who was under state supervision at the time of the attack.
...
The records reference offender identification numbers tied to the NAACP v. Cooper settlement and include the Feb. 15, 2021 eligibility cutoff date, a key benchmark outlined in the agreement for determining which inmates qualified for early release or transition. One of the offender identification numbers listed corresponds to Brown, according to the records reviewed.
State officials have not publicly confirmed whether Brown was ultimately released or transitioned under the settlement, and no public list of the 3,500 inmates affected by the agreement has ever been released.
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Republican Michael Whatley, who is running for the Senate against Cooper, slammed the former Governor and his soft-on-crime policies.
When he was North Carolina Governor, Roy Cooper released repeat offender DeCarlos Brown Jr., who went on to brutally murder Iryna Zarutska aboard the Charlotte light rail this past summer.
— Michael Whatley (@WhatleyNC) February 4, 2026
Cooper said the inmates he released weren’t violent. That was a lie. Then he tried to…
"Cooper said the inmates he released weren’t violent. That was a lie. Then he tried to cover it up. An innocent woman is dead, and her blood is on his hands," Whatley wrote on X. "Instead of taking responsibility, Cooper is still lying and scrambling to hide the truth."
Whatley also joined Hugh Hewitt to discuss this development.
"Roy Cooper's soft-on-crime policies put crime rates through the roof all across the state. Thankfully, the state Legislature last year moved after I called on them to pass Iryna's Law to be able to end cashless bail and pre-trial release for violent criminals to help stop the… pic.twitter.com/oaHY9c12AX
— Whatley War Room (@whatleywarroom) February 4, 2026
"Yes, he absolutely did [support cashless bail]. Signed an executive order in 2020 right in the middle of all of the riots, he was marching around with BLM and Antifa, and signed an executive order to bring cashless bail and pretrial release to North Carolina," Whatley said.
"It really, truly put the crime rates through the roof all across the state and thankfully, the state legislature moved, after I called on them, to pass this bill, Iryna's Law and be able to end cashless bail and pre-trial release for violent criminals to help stop the revolving door that he unleashed on North Carolina," Whatley said.
Senator Tom Cotton also blasted Cooper, saying he "would be soft-on-crime in the Senate."
Roy Cooper went all in on jailbreak policies because he thought they were a political winner.
— Tom Cotton (@TomCottonAR) February 4, 2026
And the result was the horrific, preventable murder of Iryna Zarutska.
Roy Cooper was soft-on-crime as governor, and he would be soft-on-crime in the Senate. pic.twitter.com/lIozMEVEyq
Congressman Brad Knott also condemned Cooper for caving to "radical, dangerous ideologies."
Leaders do not cave to radical, dangerous ideologies. Rather than fighting the Left’s efforts to defund police and protect criminals, Roy Cooper bought right in and became the Left’s biggest advocate. Innocent North Carolinians have - and are - paying the price. pic.twitter.com/pcVj3GZPHB
— Congressman Brad Knott (@RepKnott) February 4, 2026
Democrats' soft-on-crime policies have deadly consequences. Cashless bail, pretrial release, and other "reforms" do not keep our communities safe, and they do not reduce crime. Roy Cooper made the choice to release thousands of criminals, vowing they weren't violent, and now at least one innocent woman is dead.
Editor’s Note: The American people overwhelmingly support President Trump’s law and order agenda.
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