Iryna Zarutska: Donald Trump slams Democrats after Ukrainian refugee killed in Charlotte train stabbing

WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT

A chilling attack on a Charlotte light rail train has left a Ukrainian refugee dead and renewed urgent questions over transit safety.

Iryna Zarutska, 23, had left her war-torn homeland for what she believed would be a safer future in the United States. But on the night of August 22, police say her journey ended in tragedy when she was stabbed to death in a random assault on the Lynx Blue Line.

Surveillance video released by Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) shows Ms Zarutska boarding the train just before 9.50pm, still in her pizzeria uniform.

She settled into a seat, scrolling on her phone, apparently unaware of the man looming behind her.

Within minutes, that man identified by police as 34-year-old Decarlos Brown Jr. allegedly pulled a folding knife and lunged, striking Ms Zarutska three times, including once in the neck.

As blood poured onto the train floor, the young woman clutched her neck and collapsed in her seat. She was pronounced dead before she could be moved from the carriage, The New York Post reported.

Court records show Mr Brown’s criminal history stretches back more than a decade, including armed robbery, larceny and threats. He once served five years in prison and has faced multiple arrests since 2011.

The suspect, who appeared to discard clothing and wait by the doors, left the train at the next stop. Officers later recovered a knife nearby. Mr Brown was treated for a hand injury before being arrested and charged with first-degree murder.

“Brown wanted officers to investigate this ‘man-made’ material that was inside of his body,” reads an affidavit from a previous bizarre arrest earlier this year, when police said he misused 911 to report delusional claims.

US President Donald Trump has seized on the brutal stabbing of a young Ukrainian refugee in Charlotte, blasting Democrats over “cashless bail” and claiming the victim’s blood is “on their hands.”

“I have seen the horrific video of a beautiful, young Ukrainian refugee… where she was brutally ambushed by a mentally deranged lunatic,” Mr Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

The president railed against what he called a “well-known career criminal” who had been “previously arrested and released… a total of 14 TIMES.”

“What the hell was he doing riding the train and walking the streets? Criminals like this need to be LOCKED UP,” Mr Trump said, adding: “Her blood is on the hands of the Democrats who refuse to put bad people in jail.”

Mr Trump linked the case to the North Carolina Senate race, calling on voters to back state GOP chair Michael Whatley, declaring: “He won’t let this happen again.”

Transit security has also come under scrutiny.

It took six minutes for police to respond to the stabbing, while guards assigned to the train were in another carriage. In response, CATS officials said they have tripled the safety budget, hired a new chief safety officer and begun upgrading cameras.

The Charlotte City Council is set to debate expanding police patrols on buses and trains later this month.

Community grief has been raw and immediate.

A fundraiser launched by Ms Zarutska’s family, who said she had only recently arrived in America, has raised more than $38,000.

“Tragically, her life was cut short far too soon,” the GoFundMe read.