“What if we told you… Magistrate Judge Teresa Stokes was releasing dangerous criminals like Decarlos Brown Jr.—not in the name of justice, but so they could end up in taxpayer-funded ‘treatment’ at her own company, Pinnacle Recovery Services?” Messages like this are circulating widely on Twitter and Facebook, highlighting potential conflicts of interest that resulted in a brutal murder.
On August 22, 2025, 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska was brutally stabbed to death on a Charlotte, North Carolina, light rail train by 34-year-old Decarlos Brown Jr., a man with a long criminal record and documented mental health issues. The case has since become a focal point in national debates about criminal justice reform, media bias, and public safety policy.
Zarutska had fled the war in Ukraine with her mother, sister, and brother, and was described as a “gifted and passionate artist” who quickly embraced her new life in America. She worked at Zepeddie’s Pizzeria, cared for neighbors’ pets, and dreamed of becoming a veterinary assistant. Friends and family remembered her kindness and radiant smile.
The fatal attack occurred just before 10 p.m. on Charlotte’s Lynx Blue Line. Surveillance video and court affidavits show that Zarutska boarded the train and sat in an aisle seat directly in front of Brown. For several minutes, there was no interaction between them. Brown then pulled a folding knife from his pocket, paused, stood up, and stabbed Zarutska three times in the neck. Later, when his sister asked why he had done it, Brown reportedly answered, “Because she was reading my mind.”
Decarlos Brown Jr., 34, has been arrested 14 times over more than a decade, with cases dating back to 2007. His criminal record includes multiple misdemeanor charges between 2007 and 2013, such as communicating threats, shoplifting, and repeated failures to appear in court, followed by more serious crimes. In 2015, he was sentenced to six years in prison for robbery with a dangerous weapon and possession of a firearm by a felon. He was also convicted of felony larceny and breaking and entering, serving just over five years before being released in September 2020.
Within months of his release, Brown was charged with assaulting his sister, and between 2022 and 2024, he was arrested three more times, including twice for repeatedly dialing 911 without an emergency. Brown has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and has a documented history of delusional behavior. His family, including his mother and sister, had tried to get him help, with his mother even seeking an involuntary commitment order from the courts.
In January 2025, North Carolina Magistrate Judge Teresa Stokes released Decarlos Brown Jr. after he was arrested for “misuse of the 911 system,” allowing him to go free on nothing more than a written promise to appear in court. Brown had called 911 during a police welfare check, claiming that “man-made materials” inside his body were controlling his eating, walking, and talking.
Republicans later argued that Stokes ignored his extensive record, which included at least 14 prior arrests for serious offenses such as possession of a firearm by a felon, robbery with a dangerous weapon, and assaulting his sister. Despite his violent history, mental illness, and lack of a fixed address, he was released without bail.
On July 28, 2025, just three and a half weeks before the fatal stabbing, Judge Roy Wiggins ordered a forensic evaluation after Brown’s public defender questioned his mental capacity to stand trial. The evaluation was never carried out, and Brown remained free until the killing.
Stokes, who has served as a magistrate judge in Mecklenburg County since April 2023, is not a licensed attorney or member of the North Carolina State Bar. State law does not require magistrates to be lawyers; they may qualify with a four-year college degree, or with a two-year associate degree and four years of related experience. Magistrates are appointed, not elected, and are supervised by the Chief District Court Judge.
Critics allege that Judge Teresa Stokes’s involvement in the recovery industry created a conflict of interest when she released DeCarlos Brown Jr., despite his long criminal record. Stokes has co-founded or worked with several mental health and addiction initiatives, prompting questions about whether her professional interests influenced her judicial decisions.
She is listed as co-owner of Pinnacle Recovery Services, Director of Operations at Charlotte-based Second Chance Services, and, with her wife, a former director of Pinnacle Recovery Group in Lansing, Michigan. The couple also co-owned a “sober sports bar” in Lansing, and her wife, Ayanna Ballard, is a health care provider at a Charlotte clinic that performs court-ordered evaluations.
Critics argue that Stokes’s decision to release Brown may have been motivated by a desire to funnel defendants into treatment programs connected to her or her wife. North Carolina lawmakers have since called for her removal as magistrate. Legal experts add that even if her current ties to Second Chance are unverified, her history of advocacy raises serious concerns about the appearance of conflicts in cases involving mental health.
Mainstream outlets largely ignored the murder of Iryna Zarutska in the days following the attack, despite her status as a Ukrainian refugee and the case’s connection to the war in Ukraine. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt remarked that “many in the media ignored this story because it didn’t fit their preferred narrative.”
The stabbing occurred on August 22, 2025, and was covered locally but with limited details about the suspect. For nearly two weeks, national outlets gave little attention to the case. On September 5, the Charlotte Area Transit System released surveillance footage showing the attack.
By September 6–8, the video had spread widely on social media, driving national coverage that mainstream outlets had previously withheld. Conservative figures such as Piers Morgan, Elon Musk, Charlie Kirk, and Benny Johnson questioned why the story was ignored, with Johnson posting: “If Iryna were Black and her killer white, the media would be rioting non-stop.”
Local reporter Joe Bruno admitted that he and his editors chose not to release the video initially “to spare Zarutska’s family further anguish,” and Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles later thanked media outlets that declined to share it. However, once the video surfaced online, it forced broader coverage.
Much of that reporting, instead of focusing on the crime itself, highlighted Brown’s mental health, systemic failures, and critiques of conservative commentators, with CNN’s Brian Stelter dismissing them as “pro-Trump activists” making “baldly racist” remarks.
Apparently, it is considered racist to show photos or videos of the attack or to cite previous examples of similar crimes. At the same time, the left has tried to link this case to George Floyd, an odd comparison, given that Floyd was a career criminal who died of a fentanyl overdose while resisting arrest after committing a crime, whereas Iryna Zarutska was an innocent woman murdered by a repeat offender who should never have been free on the streets.
The post The Iryna Zarutska Murder Case: The Crime, Criminal Justice Failures, and Media Coverage appeared first on The Gateway Pundit.