(Ken Silva, Headline USA) CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA—Decarlos Brown Jr., who allegedly stabbed Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska to death on a Charlotte train on Aug. 22, had his first appearance in federal court on Thursday in a case that carries the death penalty.Brown is in state custody and faces a murder charge in North Carolina. The Justice Department has also charged him with the offence of “Violence Against a Railroad Carrier and Mass Transportation System Resulting in Death”—and a judge ordered U.S. Marshals to transport him from county jail to her court for the first hearing in that federal matter.
Thursday’s hearing took only about 10 minutes. U.S. District Judge Susan C. Rodriguez read the charges against Brown, who looked around the courtroom, seemingly not paying attention—even when she said he “may be sentenced to death.”
Brown did not enter a plea, and Rodriguez sent him back into state custody after reading the charges. His lawyers filed a flurry of motions before the hearing that will be argued at a later date.
Among those motions is one seeking to deem Brown incompetent to stand trial.
Not much to report from the hearing. A judge just read the charges. Brown was looking around the courtroom when she did, seemingly not paying attention.
But his lawyers have filed a few interesting motions, starting with one seeking to declare him incompetent to stand trial 🧵 https://t.co/PiDEmH4UxG pic.twitter.com/pZ98RzfZXk
— Ken Silva (@JD_Cashless) December 11, 2025
Read Full Article: https://headlineusa.com/charlotte-train-stabber-unable-to-understand-case-against-him-lawyers-say/
