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CHARLOTTE – She fled the war in Ukraine hoping to build a new life in the United States. Instead, 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska was stabbed to death in an unprovoked attack while riding a Charlotte light rail train home from work.
For her neighbors, the tragedy is made all the more painful each time they walk into their homes and see the flowers she painted — bright strokes of pinks and greens, signed with her delicate hand.
Neighbors in Huntersville, a suburb of Charlotte where Zarutska once lived with her family, told Fox News Digital that they first met the Ukrainian refugee through a local Facebook group, where she posted that she was looking for opportunities to paint, offering to add flowers or murals to homes.
“She came over and did some samples for us, and we still have them,” a neighbor said. “She was here a couple of days, painting upstairs, and we got to know her.”
Despite her limited English, she quickly connected with them through translation apps.
“She didn’t know English at the time, so we used Google Translate,” one neighbor recalled. “She was just a real sweet girl. Very shy, but very smart.”
The family noted she was working to learn English so she could find more opportunities. Neighbors even gave her a computer to help her study.
Zarutska spent days painting upstairs in one family’s home, taking breaks to share stories about life in Ukraine.
“She was very cheerful and enthusiastic,” another neighbor remembered. “We had some good moments with her.”
Her obituary describes her as a graduate of Synergy College in Kyiv, with a degree in art and restoration. Loved ones highlighted her deep creativity, love for animals, and determination to keep learning.
“Iryna will be remembered for her kindness, her creativity, and the lasting impression she left on everyone she met. Her absence leaves a deep void, but her spirit will forever remain in the hearts of those who loved her,” her obituary read.
On Aug. 22, police say Zarutska was ambushed while riding the light rail home from her job at Zepeddie’s Pizza. Authorities say surveillance video shows Decarlos Dejuan Brown Jr. stabbing her three times in what investigators described as a “seemingly unprovoked” attack. She was still wearing her work uniform at the time.
Russ Ferguson, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina, underscored the tragedy at a Tuesday news conference.
“She is a refugee. She literally came to the United States from a bomb shelter in Ukraine to escape the war,” he said. “And she was going about her day. She was coming home from work on a light rail train, like all of us do all the time. And she was brutally murdered.”
Brown is charged at the state level with first-degree murder and now faces a federal charge of committing a fatal act on a public transportation system. Prosecutors are seeking life in prison without parole and are reviewing whether the case qualifies for the death penalty.
Court documents obtained by Fox News Digital reveal Brown’s extensive criminal background, spanning more than a decade. His record includes convictions for theft, breaking and entering in 2013, and armed robbery in 2015. He was released from prison in 2020 and remained on parole until 2021. Additional charges filed in 2025 included making threats and misusing the emergency 911 system.
The case has drawn national attention. President Donald Trump called Brown a “lunatic” and used the incident to argue for tougher sentencing laws and greater federal involvement in violent crime cases.
Locally, the community has been shaken. “She was very smart, very talented, very artistic,” one neighbor said. “She could have taken the world by storm with her potential.”
Zarutska’s artwork now carries new meaning for those who knew her.
“She had a skill for this — to put the colors down and mix them up and get exactly what you had in mind. Phenomenal,” another neighbor said.
Another pointed to a simple flower painted in the corner of their home. “This is simple, but to me, it’s so special,” the neighbor said. “And I’m so glad I had her sign it.”
Neighbors say her work lives on in their homes and hearts. “Every time I come in here, I say her name. Her memory is here every day.”
Though their time with her was brief, neighbors were struck by her intelligence and drive.
Others recalled conversations about the differences between life in Ukraine and in Charlotte. She had no driver’s license, relying instead on public transportation — something she explained was common in her hometown.
Jenean Fornges, former publisher of Huntersville Living Magazine, worked on a story about Zarutska’s family in 2023.
“They were just a very sweet, sweet family, and it was such an honor to feature them all,” Fornges told Fox News Digital. “I was very inspired by the family setup there. The children were just young and sweet, and they were very excited to be here in the country for the first time.
“They had only just come. I don’t think that they were even speaking English at that point. They had, literally, just arrived. But they were just excited, and they were just having a lot of fun with the pictures, like just being kind of silly and cute. I do remember Iryna. She was very sweet and polite and just happy and just very fun-loving. I picked up on the natural joy that they had as a family.”
“Now it’s heartbreaking and so sad I can’t even really find words to express,” she added. “It’s just hard to even really wrap my head around what has happened to Iryna.”
In the days since her death, those who knew her say they feel a responsibility to keep her memory alive.
“Say her name. Make her real,” one neighbor said.
For her neighbors, the flowers she left behind are more than art — they are a reminder of the young woman who dreamed of building a new life in America.
During a moving part of Tuesday’s news conference, Ferguson shared a message from Zarutska’s family.
“After Iryna’s death, the embassy in Ukraine called and said, ‘We’ll help you bring her home.’ But her family said no. They told us she loved America, and they wanted to bury her here. So I think we can give her an America to be proud of.”
Fox News Digital’s Sarah Rumpf-Whitten contributed to this report.
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