by WorldTribune Staff, September 9, 2025 Real World News

In August 2022, Iryna Zarutska, her mother, sister and brother immigrated to the U.S. to escape the war in Ukraine.

Zarutska was said to have quickly embraced her new life in the U.S. and became fluent in English.

Before coming to the U.S., she graduated from Synergy College in Kyiv with a degree in art and restoration. Her obituary noted that Zarutska used her skills to make works of art for loved ones.

“She was always very helpful, very supportive and just had a heart of gold,” a family friend told WCNC Charlotte. “She was a sweetheart. And it makes me sick to think that she’s gone.”

On Aug. 22, Zarutska boarded a train in Charlotte on her way home from work at Zepeddie’s Pizzeria. Still in her uniform, Zarutska sat down in front of a man wearing a red hoodie. Moments later, the man pulled out a knife and stabbed her to death. The suspect was later identified as Decarlos Brown, who was arrested and charged with murder.

Critics slammed North Carolina Democratic Gov. Josh Stein’s response to the murder of the 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee.

Stein finally broke his silence in a post to X on Monday, writing:

“I am heartbroken for the family of Iryna Zarutska, who lost their loved one to this senseless act of violence, and I am appalled by the footage of her murder. We need more cops on the beat to keep people safe.

“That’s why my budget calls for more funding to hire more well-trained police officers. I call upon the legislature to pass my law enforcement recruitment and retention package to address vacancies in our state and local agencies so they can stop these horrific crimes and hold violent criminals accountable.”

Critics pointed out that Brown had been released from jail 14 times previously by liberal judges.

“He was arrested 14 times,” White House deputy press secretary Abigail Marone posted on X. “The police did their jobs. You did not. And shame on you for trying to shift the blame.”

“Preposterous statement from the @NC_Governor,” conservative commentator Michael Knowles posted on X. “The problem isn’t that cops didn’t arrest the guy. He was arrested over two dozen times! The problem is that liberal prosecutors, judges, and legislators like you refused to keep him locked up.”

“You were Attorney General of North Carolina when her killer was arrested and released from jail 14 times,” conservative commentator Greg Price posted on X. “The police did their job. You did not.”

Human Events editor Jack Posobiec noted: “There is a reason the urban elite lock up patriots but release violent criminals to prey upon the populace. It isn’t incompetence, it’s deliberate. The point of a system is what it does.”

President Donald Trump wrote in a post to Truth Social:

I have seen the horrific video of a beautiful, young Ukrainian refugee, who came to America to escape the vicious War in Ukraine, and was innocently riding the Metro in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she was brutally ambushed by a mentally deranged lunatic. The perpetrator was a well known career criminal, who had been previously arrested and released on CASHLESS BAIL in January, a total of 14 TIMES. What the hell was he doing riding the train, and walking the streets? Criminals like this need to be LOCKED UP. The blood of this innocent woman can literally be seen dripping from the killer’s knife, and now her blood is on the hands of the Democrats who refuse to put bad people in jail, including Former Disgraced Governor and “Wannabe Senator” Roy Cooper. North Carolina, and every State, needs LAW AND ORDER, and only Republicans will deliver it! Additionally, where is the outrage from the Mainstream Media on this horrible tragedy? VOTE FOR MICHAEL WHATLEY FOR UNITED STATES SENATE, HE WON’T LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN!

Critics also noted that Stein did not respond to the murder, which occurred last month, until after Trump had weighed in on it and it became a top story online.

“.@NC_Governor Josh Stein, a Democrat, has had nothing to say about the brutal murder of Iryna Zarutska, a resident of his state,” journalist Megan Basham posted on X. “Yet, in 2020, when he was attorney general, he DID find time to lament the death of George Floyd and initiate a “Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice.”

“This task force’s recommendations included increasing ‘pre-trial release’–which is exactly the kind of thing that allowed Zarutska’s killer, DeCarlos Brown, to be on the streets after 14 previous arrests.”

Meanwhile, Ashley Rindsberg noted in a Monday analysis for The Free Press that Wikipedia has moved to essentially erase the Zarutska story.

“A number of Wikipedia editors don’t want you to know about the attack,” Rindsberg wrote. “Since the online encyclopedia’s article “Killing of Iryna Zarutska” was created on Saturday, Wikipedia editors have fought to have it deleted, as I wrote in a post on X.”

Rindsberg added: “It was another sign of how Wikipedia’s idealistic mission to provide all the world’s information for free has been compromised by editors who battle over their version of the truth. Last year, I wrote that the consensus achieved by all that jostling often lines up with the prerogatives of the Democratic Party and the media establishment that supports it. Wikipedia co-founder Larry Sanger has criticized the site as too left-wing.”

  NC governor offer contrasting responses to tragic death of Iryna Zarutska, President