GOP uses anniversary of Iryna Zarutska's death to draw attention to NC crime

Mary Ramsey, The Charlotte Observer on Oct 22, 2025

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Republican political leaders in North Carolina continued to raise concerns Wednesday about violent crime as they marked 60 days since a high-profile killing on the city’s light rail system.

Iryna Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee, died Aug. 22 on the LYNX Blue Line in South End after she was stabbed. DeCarlos Brown Jr., 34, is charged with first-degree murder and a federal transit crime in the case. The stabbing drew national attention and set off a political firestorm, especially after security footage of the incident went viral on social media.

Two months later, and with early voting underway in Charlotte’s municipal elections, local Republicans gathered in uptown alongside crime victims’ families for a news conference calling for changes in leadership and a renewed focus on public safety.

“We have an opportunity this election cycle to make a difference here in Mecklenburg County, here in the city of Charlotte,” said Addul Ali, former GOP congressional candidate and current chair of the 12th Congressional District Republican Party.

Republicans also used the anniversary of Zarutska’s death as fodder for a new advertisement in North Carolina’s hotly contested U.S. Senate race.

Local Republicans, victims’ families call for change

Multiple Republican candidates on the November ballot spoke at Wednesday’s news conference, reiterating claims that Democratic policies contributed to Zarutska’s death.

GOP mayoral candidate Terrie Donovan said it’s “tone deaf” for local Democratic incumbents to point to crime statistics when discussing public safety. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department reported in its quarterly crime report last week overall crime is down 8% and violent crime down 20% year-over-year through the end of September. That includes a 24% drop in homicides, according to CMPD.

Donovan said many in Charlotte still feel unsafe and politicians need to address those concerns.

“You’re not out speaking to people, you’re not out walking the streets, you’re not out talking to business owners. Do that, and then let me hear what you have to say. Listen to the people,” she said.

Current District 6 Council member Edwin Peacock III, now running for an at-large seat on the City Council, said politicians on both sides of the aisle need to “come together after this election to begin to address the very serious situations that we have seen develop since (Zarutska’s) murder.”

Peacock said the City Council needs to work with fellow leaders at the county and state level to support law enforcement and prosecutors and address questions about sentencing practices.

Wednesday’s event also included comments from the mothers of two other victims of violent crimes in Charlotte in recent years.

Clydia Davis lost her son Donqwavias Davis in 2019 when he was fatally shot at an apartment complex near UNC Charlotte after attending a vigil for victims of an on-campus shooting, police said at the time. Javier Perez-Concepcion, 26, was sentenced to life in prison earlier this year in the case.

Speaking about her experience Wednesday, Clydia Davis called for more accountability, especially for juvenile offenders and their families, and for elected leaders to do more to address crime.

“It’s time to vote for our humanity,” she said.

GOP group targets Roy Cooper

The light rail stabbing also remains a factor in North Carolina’s closely watched 2026 U.S. Senate race, where former Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper is expected to face former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley for an open seat.

The GOP-aligned Senate Leadership Fund announced Wednesday a “four-figure digital campaign” targeting Cooper for his record on public safety.

The campaign includes a new ad spot to run primarily in the Charlotte market that says DeCarlos Brown, Jr., “was released from prison months after Cooper signed an executive order to ‘reimagine public safety.’”

“Roy Cooper’s failed tenure as governor put all North Carolinians at risk and fostered an environment where violent criminals like DeCarlos Brown roamed freely as innocent bystanders paid the price,” Senate Leadership Fund Executive Director Alex Latcham said in a statement.

The advertisement is misleading in tying Cooper’s order to Brown’s release. Brown was released from Central Prison in Raleigh in September 2020 after completing his sentence for a February 2015 conviction on a charge of armed robbery. PolitiFact previously reported there was no evidence that Cooper’s Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice, which he led as governor, played a role in Brown’s release from prison in 2020.

A spokesman for Cooper’s campaign said the Democrat “spent his career prosecuting violent criminals and keeping thousands of them behind bars as attorney general, and signing tough on crime laws and stricter bail and pretrial release rules as governor.”

Some politicians have also questioned why Brown was not put in jail after a January arrest on a misdemeanor charge of misusing 911, but guidelines did not call for him to be held on that charge as he awaited trial.

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