Editors at National Review Online assess the recent high-profile Charlotte public transportation murder.
The bloodcurdling murder in late August of 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska by a complete stranger sitting behind her on public transit in Charlotte, N.C., has brought to light, once again, our nation’s almost literally insane public health policy regarding the severely mentally ill.
The murder drew new attention Friday when the Charlotte Area Transit System released video footage of the crime; a scene from hell could not be more soul-sickening. The petite young woman, head down, calmly reads her cellphone, unaware of the agitated man behind her, who suddenly pulls out a knife, looms over her, and lunges at her neck.
Court records show that the man wielding the knife in the video, Decarlos Brown Jr., has had more than a dozen convictions since 2011, including for armed robbery, felony larceny, and assault. Shortly after being released from a five-year prison term, in February 2021, he was arrested for assaulting and injuring his sister. There is little doubt that Brown is a career criminal and that we need more robust law enforcement at every level that will result in more criminals getting arrested and the convicted serving more time behind bars.
But another aspect of Brown’s history deserves attention: his years of untreated mental illness. …
… As this mother has tragically learned — and as many other mothers with similarly troubled children have also learned — it is virtually impossible to get help for a person with severe mental illness, even when that person has a lengthy record of violence and threatening behavior and has been in and out of mental institutions and prisons over many years. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department was well aware of Brown before the murder of Zarutska. They had encountered him three times in 2024 alone and referred him to “resources” for help. It’s not clear whether he declined the help, as is his legal right.
