A man accused of killing a Ukrainian refugee on a train in Charlotte, North Carolina, has been found not fit to stand trial as he ranted to the judge overseeing his case about “material in his body.”
Decarlos Brown Jr. was federally indicted last October for the fatal stabbing of Iryna Zarutska on Charlotte’s light rail system. Zarutska, a 23-year-old who had fled Ukraine after Russia invaded her home country, was sitting in front of Brown on the train when he attacked her last August, according to federal prosecutors.
During a brief hearing Tuesday morning, Brown shouted that he wanted to ask the judge whether he had reviewed his mental health evaluation, Queen City News reported from inside the courtroom.
Brown had reportedly been evaluated at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago through the federal prison system, with mental health professionals spending hours meeting with him.
Brown also said that he wanted to press charges against the FBI and insisted that he had “material in his body” during his reported outburst.
The judge ruled that Brown will remain in custody and receive medication and treatment for up to four months to try to restore his competency.
Surveillance video of the stabbing showed Zarutska entering the train car and sitting down in the row in front of Brown. Just minutes later, Brown pulled out a knife and stabbed Zarutska three times, according to federal prosecutors. He then allegedly walked away from her, and police found him on the light rail platform.
Brown has been federally charged with one count of violence against a railroad carrier and mass transportation system resulting in death. If convicted, he could face life in prison or even the death penalty.
Brown also faces state charges of first-degree murder. That case has also been delayed for at least six months after he was found “incapable of proceeding” in court, per CNN.
President Donald Trump has called Brown a “deranged monster who was roaming free after 14 prior arrests.”
“We cannot allow a depraved criminal element of violent repeat offenders to continue spreading destruction and death throughout our country,” he said from the Oval Office last September.
“We have to respond with force and strength. We have to be vicious just like they are. It’s the only thing they understand.”
