A federal judge in North Carolina has blocked the state’s General Assembly from accessing investigation files on the Charlotte light rail stabbing that killed Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska.
DeCarlos Brown Jr. was arrested in Zarutska’s Aug. 22 death and faces both a state murder charge and a federal charge. His federal public defenders this week asked a judge to block the House Oversight Committee of the North Carolina General Assembly from receiving investigation files.
Representatives with the committee demanded such files from Mecklenburg District Attorney Spencer Merriweather in December, according to court documents filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina. On Wednesday, Brown’s attorneys “learned that the file may have already been sent … to the legislative committee and legislators.” They filed a motion asking to stop any release the same day.
In a Thursday ruling, U.S. Magistrate Judge David Keesler issued a preliminary protective order that bars Merriweather and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department from releasing the files. If the files have already been sent, the General Assembly is not permitted to release them, Keesler ordered.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
This story was originally published January 16, 2026 at 12:00 PM.
Julia Coin
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