A new video lays bare the ghoulish behavior of passengers who filmed Iryna Zarutska as she bled out on a North Carolina train – rather than rushing to her aid.
Several onlookers can be seen pulling out their phones and recording as the Ukrainian refugee took her final breaths following the unprovoked attack that has shocked the nation.
Zarutska was stabbed three times in the neck by Decarlos Brown Jr, a 34-year-old career criminal who now faces the death penalty after his charges were upgraded to federal terrorism charges.
Immediately after the attack, a stunned Zarutska cowered in fear and covered her face before slumping lifeless in a pool of blood.
A man in a green shirt on the busy South End light rail train in Charlotte strips off the top and attempts to stem the bleeding.
But nearly one minute and 40 seconds had passed, and by then it was too late.
Another woman, in a black crop top and blue jeans, was later seen crouching beside Zarutska.
But other heartless passengers simply filmed the disturbing scene.
A man in a blue McDonald’s t-shirt, skull cap and glasses quickly whipped out his cell phone.
Another woman in a colored top, cropped black pants with a sweater around her neck filmed – even as blood seeped across the carriage floor toward their feet.
The Daily Mail is not publishing the full video due to its shocking nature.
The horrific attack took place on August 22, soon after Zarutska boarded a South End light rail train in Charlotte and sat in front of Brown, 34.
Zarutska was stabbed a total of three times in her neck and hands with a pocket knife, officials said Tuesday.
The stabbing unfolded just four minutes after she sat down on the train. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Footage showed blood trailing through the train moments later, with a man in a grey hoodie standing up and following Brown while a woman wearing red glanced over before turning back to a window.
US Attorney Russ Ferguson said that Zarutska had recently moved in with a partner when she was killed, and in recent days her family declined to have her body returned to Ukraine, telling authorities she would have wanted to be buried in the US because ‘she loved America.’
On Tuesday, it was announced that Brown has been charged federally in the chilling case, which raises the possibility he could face the death penalty if convicted.
Officials said at the press conference that the federal charges are based on violence against a mass transportation system, which Ferguson said constituted an ‘attack on the American way.’
If convicted, Brown would become the first person executed in the state since 2006.
Brown’s arrest sparked national attention on Zarutska’s death and ignited debates over the US criminal justice system, with it revealed that he has at least 14 prior cases in Mecklenburg County.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said that Zarutska’s ‘murder is a direct result of failed soft-on-crime policies that put criminals before innocent people.’
Bondi said she has directed her attorneys to prosecute him federally so the Trump administration ‘will seek the maximum penalty for this unforgivable crime, and he will never again see the light of day as a free man.’
The frightening incident ignited a social media frenzy and has become a flashpoint in the Trump administration’s vows to launch a hardline crackdown on crime across the US.
The president addressed the heinous crime on Tuesday, saying Zarutska was ‘slaughtered by a deranged monster who was roaming free after 14 prior arrests.’
‘For too long, Americans have been forced to put up with Democrat-run cities that set loose savage, bloodthirsty criminals to prey on innocent people — really, very, very innocent people,’ Trump said.
‘We saw the results of these policies when a 23-year-old woman who came here from Ukraine met her bloody end on a public train.
‘This is a picture of the woman — beautiful, young girl that never had problems in life, with a magnificent future in this country. And now she’s dead,’ the president added.
‘She was slaughtered by 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.’
Brown was arrested soon after and charged with first-degree murder. His bond was subsequently denied by a judge and he remains in custody.
Zarutska’s heartbroken family said on a GoFundMe page that she had only arrived in the US in 2022 ‘seeking safety from the war’ in her home country, and ‘hoping for a new beginning’ before the slaying.
Brown was revealed to be a career criminal who has spent most of his life in and out of prison.
A Daily Mail review of police records found that he was charged with misusing 911 as recently as January, when he told cops he believed someone had given him a ‘man-made’ material that controlled his actions.
He was released without bail and a trial pending when he allegedly stabbed Zaruska to death.
Brown served five years in prison for a 2014 armed robbery and was released in September 2020.
In February 2021, Brown was arrested for assaulting his sister in Charlotte and leaving her with minor injuries, according to police records obtained by the Daily Mail.
That same month, he was again arrested for injury to personal property and trespassing.
A police report from that incident said Brown ‘returned to the address after being told he was not allowed back and kicked and damaged the front door of the listed victim’s residence.’
In July 2022, Brown was arrested for a domestic disturbance.
‘[Brown] was arrested for disorderly conduct. The suspect was yelling and cursing, causing a disturbance and drawing the attention of multiple tenants while on the property,’ a police report read.
Brown’s arrest records go as far back as 2007, when he was still a minor.
Over the next seven years, he was arrested at least six times for crimes including felony larceny, robbery with a dangerous weapon and communicating threats.
According to the Charlotte Observer, most of the charges he faced during that time were dropped.
When reached for comment, the Mecklenburg District Attorney’s Office told the Daily Mail Tuesday it cannot speak about defendants with pending cases.
‘In broad terms, it remains the position of the District Attorney’s office that those who commit violent crimes should be held in custody pending trial,’ the DA’s said.
Brown’s latest alleged crime is his most serious.
