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(NewsNation) — The man accused of fatally attacking a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee on a North Carolina transit system has a long criminal record and a history of mental illness, raising questions about why he was allowed back on the streets.
Victoria Watlington, a city council member in Charlotte, North Carolina, told “NewsNation Live” the community must focus on mental health resources and work with the state Legislature to secure funding for additional prosecutors.
“This is a broad-reaching issue. It is not only with the city council,” said Watlington on Tuesday. “What we really need to be focused on as a community is how we can ensure that we’ve got adequate mental health resources. How do we ensure that we work with our North Carolina General Assembly to ensure that this budget gets passed, in which there are additional resources for additional prosecutors for the district attorney’s office?”
Iryna Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee who came to the United States following the Russian invasion of her country, was fatally stabbed on her way home from work close to 10 p.m. on Aug. 22, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.
Surveillance video released by Charlotte Area Transit shows the woman boarding a light rail Lynx car and sitting down in front of a man, identified as 34-year-old Decarlos Brown Jr. After nearly five minutes, the video shows Brown pulling out a folding knife and attacking her.
Police said he stabbed Zarutska three times, including a fatal blow to the neck, before walking the length of the train and exiting. Transit police arrived within minutes, but she was pronounced dead.
Brown, who police say is homeless and has a criminal record, was arrested and charged with murder.
Watlington added that the suspect’s mother had tried to “voluntarily or involuntarily” have him committed and was not successful in doing so.
Alicia Nieves contributed to this report.