Ukrainian woman fatally stabbed on North Carolina train honored as ‘a true friend’ by colleagues in moving tribute

A Ukrainian refugee who was brutally murdered onboard a train has been remembered as a ‘true friend’ by staff members at the pizzeria where she used to work.

Iryna Zarutska, 23, was an employee of Zappedies Pizzeria in downtown Charlotte, North Carolina – and was even seen wearing a Zeppedies shirt in shocking surveillance footage from the attack.

It showed her simply sitting on a South End light rail train and looking down at her phone on August 22, when career criminal Decarlos Brown Jr., 35, started slashing at her.

Prosecutors say Brown stabbed Zarutska a total of three times in the neck before he was seen walking off the train and leaving a trail of blood in his wake.

The brutal slaying has caused national outrage after it was revealed that Brown has been arrested at least 14 times in the past, and was out on bail at the time he allegedly killed the young woman.

As community members now reel from the unprovoked attack, Zeppedies Pizzeria took time to mourn the loss of its employee.

‘We lost not only an incredible employee, but a true friend,’ the pizzeria wrote on social media.

‘Our dear Iryna left this world far too soon, and our hearts are heavy with grief,’ it continued, noting that a candle has been left burning in her memory since her death, which it called ‘a small reminder of the warmth, kindness and light she brought into our lives every single day.’

A family friend only identified as Lonnie also told the outlet that Zarutska, who fled her war-torn country in 2022, ‘was always very helpful, very supportive and just had a heart of gold.

‘She was a sweetheart,’ he continued. ‘And it makes me sick to think that she’s gone.’ 

Zarutska had recently moved in with a partner, and was said to have ‘loved America’ so much that her family declined to have her body returned to Ukraine and instead chose to bury her in the United States.

Her untimely death came just minutes after she boarded the light rail train.

Once she sat down in the row in front of Brown, the suspect was seen ogling her for some time before took out what appeared to be a blade from his pocket.

He then stood up and loomed over the 23-year-old, swinging the knife down at her before he got off the train.

Meanwhile, Zarutska was seen cowering in fear and covering her face before slumping lifeless in a pool of blood.

One good Samaritan apparently tried to stop the bleeding, stripping off his green shirt to apply pressure to the wound. 

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 also seen crouching beside Zarutska.

Other commuters, though, heartlessly filmed the disturbing scene.

A man in a blue McDonald’s t-shirt, skull cap and glasses was caught on surveillance footage quickly whipping out his cell phone, while another woman filmed as blood seeped across the train car toward her feet.

Brown is now facing first-degree murder charges for the brutal slaying, and was charged federally on Tuesday with one count of committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system.

In announcing the federal charges on Tuesday, Attorney General Pam Bondi argued that Zarutska’s ‘murder is a direct result of failed soft-on-crime policies that put criminals before innocent people.’

She 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.’

If convicted, Brown could face both the state and federal death penalty. 

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.’

Court records obtained by the Daily Mail have shown 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 had also served five years in prison for a 2014 armed robbery and was released in September 2020.

In February 2021, he 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 last week 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, and he now remains behind bars after a judge this week denied his bail.