We all remember the horrific murder of the 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee woman, Iryna Zarutska, on the Charlotte Light Rail train which occurred in late August.
However, the tragic killing did not splash into national news until early last September. It is back in the news now primarily because of a Truth Social post by President Trump a few days ago.
Andrew Murray served as the District Attorney of Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, from 2011 to 2017. Charlotte comprises much of that county.
Mr. Murray was first elected in 2010 and took office on January 1, 2011, serving two terms until he was appointed U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina in November 2017. I first met him ca. 2018 or 2019 and have exchanged pleasantries (and some serious chats) with him several times a year since then, primarily at local Republican political gatherings.
During his tenure as DA in Mecklenburg County, Andrew supervised the prosecution of the now-alleged killer, Decarlos Brown, Jr.
Brown had been arrested 14 times in Mecklenburg County, before he allegedly fatally stabbed Iryna Zarutska on the Charlotte Light Rail on August 22, 2025.
Here is a link to a brief (30 second) video but it is cut short and does not include the actual stabbing. The surveillance footage, released by the Charlotte Area Transit System, shows the young Iryna Zarutska boarding the Lynx Blue line just after 9:45 p.m. on Friday, Aug. 22, 2025.
The footage shows Zarutska in her pizzeria uniform while scrolling on her phone. A man in a red hoodie is seen sitting behind her. Around four minutes later, the man pulls out a knife and begins stabbing Zarutska three times, including at least once in the neck.
The prior arrests of Decarlos Brown, Jr. spanned over a decade and included charges such as breaking and entering, armed robbery, possession of a firearm by a felon, larceny, and communicating threats.
In a Truth Social post this past Monday, Trump stated: “The blood of this innocent woman can literally be seen dripping from the killer’s knife, and now her blood is on the hands of the Democrats who refuse to put bad people in jail, including Former Disgraced Governor and ‘Wannabe Senator’ Roy Cooper.”
DJT tied this to North Carolina’s 2026 Senate race, where the radical Left Cooper is up against Republican Michael Whatley (whom Trump endorses), arguing Republicans deliver “LAW AND ORDER” and Whatley “WON’T LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN.”
I have also met Michael Whatley on three occasions which were when he was the Chairman of the NC Republican Party. (He probably would not remember my name.)
Mr. Whatley then went on to serve as the Co-chair (with Lara Trump) of the national GOP helping DJT reclaim the White House in January 2025.
Trump separately called for the death penalty for suspect Decarlos Brown Jr., decrying “cashless bail” policies which President Trump ties to Democrats like “radical Roy” Cooper, which policies DJT says let killers back on streets.
DA Andrew Murray who frequently attends the monthly meetings, just happened to be the guest speaker at our Henderson County Republican Women’s Club (HCRWC) luncheon last September 25th, while the gruesome murder of Zarutska was still in the news. (The HCRWC welcomes men as Associate Members.)
After DA Murray gave us a detailed report of the work of his office in Western North Carolina (spanning three counties of the 17 in WNC), he opened the floor for questions. While he had noted a few successes of putting criminals behind bars, he was quite frank about the very difficult challenges he faces constantly.
I raised my hand with a question. I had not previously spoken to him in a couple months. Although he was and is a friend, I put a tough question to him, suspecting that he could handle a hard ball; and if he could not, then we might need to look for another candidate for DA come next election. (But we won’t.)
At that time, not knowing the facts which I stated above about the dates of his tenure in Mecklenburg County, I asked him if he had been in charge of any of the trials of Decarlos Brown, Jr. He said, “Yes, and I am the only prosecutor who succeeded in getting the guy sent to prison.” He went on to elaborate at length about that case.
Brown had been charged with Armed Robbery and Possession of a Firearm by a Felon (2013–2014). He was convicted and sentenced to five to six years in state prison, serving from 2015 until 2020.
Decarlos Brown Jr. was released from prison on September 20, 2020, after serving his mandatory minimum sentence for armed robbery.
DA Murray explained how his hands as a prosecutor are tied when it comes to sentencing. There are policies in place over which a Governor (which was then Gov. “radical Roy” Cooper) had great influence, if not control; and there are also statutory rules about what kind of crime requires what range of prison time. Additionally, there are rules about early release, parole, etc.
Andrews said that at the time of Brown’s trial and conviction, he wanted to see Decarlos Brown, Jr. put away for a very long time, but he had no authority to do so.
The HCRWC luncheon, with perhaps a hundred in attendance, was not the time or place for me to try to teach them about God’s law and His required judgments for the various types of crimes, but I was glad to hear in Andrew’s answer that—as I well knew—he is a very good man in a very tough position.
(President Trump is biblically correct in calling for the death penalty upon conviction.)
Andrew Murray is a Christian who seeks after righteousness in the land to the best of his abilities given our very ungodly criminal justice system in which he has to presently operate.
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