The man accused of killing Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a North Carolina train in August has been found incompetent to stand trial.
A hearing was held Tuesday to discuss the competency of Decarlos Brown Jr., who was charged in connection with the fatal stabbing on a Charlotte Area Transit System train.
Video shows Zarutska being stabbed in the neck by a passenger seated behind her without any provocation. Seconds later, without receiving help or any visible concern from other train passengers, Zarutska collapses to the train floor, where she was later pronounced dead.
Medical and correctional staff members at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago examined Brown after a court ordered an evaluation to determine his competency in January, a judge said in a North Carolina court Tuesday. On April 14, it was concluded that he was not competent to stand trial but that his prognosis to be restored to competency through medication was good.
The judge ordered Tuesday that Brown be hospitalized and treated for four months, after which there will be another hearing to determine whether he is competent to stand trial. Brown will remain in custody, U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson said.
If Brown’s competency does not improve enough for him to stand trial, he will not be released, because he would be “a serious risk” to others, the judge said.
Brown had a couple of outbursts during the hearing, including one in which he said he wanted to sue the FBI. The judge advised him to be quiet.
Ferguson told reporters after the hearing that prosecutors’ goal is to seek justice for Zarutska and her family, adding that he is hopeful Brown’s competency will be restored.
Ferguson said Brown had been having outbursts since the case began and has made comments about “some sort of material that controls him.”
“He has to be able to understand the proceedings against him and be able to assist in his defense, and I think you saw from his actions today, he’s not quite there yet,” Ferguson said.
