In President Donald Trump’s State of the Union address Tuesday night, he recognized Anna Zarutska in the audience. She is the mother of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska, the Ukrainian woman killed on a light rail train in Charlotte, North Carolina.
Anna Zarutska cried as the president described the stabbing and blamed “pro-crime” Democrats for Iryna Zarutska’s 2025 death.
“Iryna fled war-torn Ukraine to live with relatives near Charlotte, North Carolina,” the president said in his address. As an aside, he added, “And by the way, what’s going on with Charlotte?”
“Last summer, 23-year-old Iryna was riding home on the train when a deranged monster, who had been arrested over a dozen times and was released through no cash bail, stood up and viciously slashed a knife through her neck and body,” Trump continued.
Cameras showed Anna Zarutska openly weeping as the president talked about her daughter’s killing.
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The president falsely said the accused killer, DeCarlos Brown, was an immigrant. Brown is, in fact, an American citizen.
“She had escaped a brutal war only to be slain by a hardened criminal, set free to kill in America, came in through open borders,” Trump said.
The stabbing death of Iryna Zarutska, caught in a graphic video, shocked Charlotte and drew national attention to the Queen City.
RELATED: Iryna’s Law already impacting some defendants’ pretrial process
Brown had a long history of mental health issues and contacts with the criminal justice system, public records show. He served five years in prison for armed robbery. He was arrested most recently for misuse of 911 in 2025, a misdemeanor, and released from jail.
The killing on Charlotte’s popular Lynx Blue Line light rail drove action in Raleigh, where the North Carolina General Assembly passed Iryna’s Law.
The law gets rid of judges’ ability to release people from jail on a written promise to appear. It also gives judges more authority to deny “no cash” bonds to people who could potentially be a risk to the community.
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Charles Duncan
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