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Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles has ordered more security and fare enforcement on city trains after last month’s fatal stabbing of a Ukrainian woman — Iryna Zarutska — on the light rail. The killing sparked a national firestorm of attention after the release of surveillance video, which showed the attack happening without warning.
The murder is changing the way some light rail riders think about public transit, and how to keep it safe.
Late morning on a northbound train on the Charlotte Blue Line, a young woman named Eli sits against a window with a backpack at her side. Like many others, she watched the video of 23-year-old Zarutska boarding the light rail the night of Aug. 22 and, minutes later, being stabbed to death by a man seated behind her.
“I was kind of just angry at the fact that no one helped her,” Eli said.
The video has made her think twice about where she sits. She rides the train almost daily to school and uptown where she skates — and says riding at night can feel different.
“Honestly, yes. Sometimes people are sketchy. Really sketchy,” she said.
Eli thinks more security could help, but also says the killing felt random — like it could have happened anywhere — and for now, she’s not avoiding the train. “I mean, honestly, there’s nothing I can do,” she said. “I gotta take public transportation one way or another.”
After footage of the murder was released and gained national attention, Mayor Vi Lyles ordered more security officers, police patrols and fare enforcement along the light rail. Police say the suspect, 34-year-old Decarlos Brown Jr., was riding without a ticket.
In another car, John Youngblood found a seat beside a window and balanced a hard hat on his knee as uptown scenery whizzed behind him. “I’m coming from work. I work at the airport, and I’m headed home up on North Tryon,” he said.
He said the video was hard to watch, and it made him angry. “He reached over and stabbed her to death while other passengers watched. That’s horrific!”
Youngblood wished someone had intervened or called for help faster. And he’s not convinced that fare checks alone will change much. He recently saw a couple get kicked off for fare evasion. “And then when they pull them off, they got off and right on to the next train! So I mean, I wish they could do more with that, but there’s only so much they can do,” he said. He wants more aggressive policing on city trains.
Transit advocates have noted this is the first killing on the light rail since it opened in 2007, and some riders say the incident might have more to do with the courts.
Court records show Brown had been arrested 14 times in North Carolina over 18 years, and served five years in prison for armed robbery. In January, after a misdemeanor arrest for misusing 911, a judge released him on a written promise to appear in court and ordered a mental health evaluation.
Standing near the doors, a man who only gave his first name — Lonnie — said he thought the court system and the judge who released Brown deserved scrutiny. “If they are causing that much violence — like if it’s actually physical violence and hurting people — then I think the courts really need to take into account whether they should be in the public.”
Nearby, Dayo Fagbola sat with his back to a window. He said the killing has definitely changed the way he rides the train. “I’d rather sit with my back against the wall, nobody behind me," he said. "That’s why I’m sitting here. I just made a note to myself not to sit with anybody behind me. Not anymore.”
Fagbola said whatever the solution is, he wants people in power to stop pointing fingers, and instead work together.
“I don’t think we can pick and choose who is responsible. It’s everybody’s responsibility," he said. "The light rail system has to make sure we have a safe environment to ride in. The police have to make sure the citizens are safe. Lawmakers need to make sure they have the necessary funding and things like that. So I think all of them need to come together to make it safer.”
