US House members hear pleas for tougher justice policies after stabbing
death of refugee
[September 30, 2025]
By ERIK VERDUZCO and GARY D. ROBERTSON
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — U.S. House members visited North Carolina's
largest city on Monday to hear from family members of violent-crime
victims who pleaded for tougher criminal justice policies in the wake of
last month's stabbing death of a Ukrainian refugee on a Charlotte
commuter train.
A judiciary subcommittee meeting convened in Charlotte to listen to many
speakers who described local court systems in North Carolina and South
Carolina that they say have failed to protect the public and keep
defendants in jail while awaiting trials.
The meeting was prompted by the Aug. 22 stabbing death of Iryna Zarutska
on a light rail car and the resulting apprehension of a suspect who had
been previously arrested more than a dozen times, according to court
records.
“The same system that failed Mary failed Iryna. Our hearts are broken
for her family and her friends and we grieve with them,” Mia Alderman,
the grandmother of 2020 murder victim 20-year-old Mary Santina Collins
in Charlotte, told panelists. Alderman said defendants in her
granddaughter's case still haven't been tried: “We need accountability.
We need reform. We need to ensure that those accused of heinous crimes
are swiftly prosecuted.”
A magistrate had allowed the commuter train defendant, Decarlos Brown
Jr., to be released on a misdemeanor charge in January on a written
promise to appear, without any bond. Now Brown is jailed after being
charged with both first-degree murder in state court and a federal count
in connection with Zarutska’s death. Both crimes can be punishable by
the death penalty.
Public outrage intensified with the release of security video showing
the attack, leading to accusations from Republicans all the way to
President Donald Trump that policies by Democratic leaders in Charlotte
and statewide are more focused on helping criminals than victims.
Democratic committee members argued that Republicans are the ones who
have reduced crime-control funds or failed to provide funding for more
district attorneys and mental health services. Brown’s mother told media
outlets that her son has been diagnosed with schizophrenia.
“The hearing for me is not really about public safety,” Democratic Rep.
Alma Adams, who represents most of Charlotte. “It’s about my colleagues
trying to paint Democrats as soft on crime — and we're not — and
engaging in political theater, probably to score some headlines.”
Dena King, a former U.S. attorney for western North Carolina during Joe
Biden's administration, testified that Mecklenburg County, which
includes Charlotte, needs dozens of additional prosecutors to serve
effectively a county of 1.2 million people. And a crime data analyst
said that rates of murder and violent crime are falling nationwide and
in Charlotte after increases early in the 2020s.
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Steve Federico, left, looks on as Mia Alderman testifies about the
murder of her granddaughter Mary Santina Collins during the House
Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight holds a field hearing on violent
crime in Charlotte, N.C., Monday, Sept. 29, 2025. (AP Photo/Nell
Redmond)
Republicans, in turn, blasted Democratic members, saying additional
funding alone wouldn't have prevented the deaths of Zarutska or the
other homicide victims highlighted Monday. And they attempted to
question the crime figures as misleading.
“This is not time for politics. This is not time for any race. It’s
not time of any party. It’s about a time of justice,” said GOP Rep.
Ralph Norman of South Carolina, representing in part Charlotte's
suburbs. He spoke while holding a poster of a screenshot of the
video showing Zarutska and her attacker. Adams protested Norman's
use of the placard.
In response to Zarutska's death, the Republican-controlled North
Carolina legislature last week approved a criminal justice package
that would bar cashless bail in many circumstances, limit the
discretion magistrates and judges have in making pretrial release
decisions and seek to ensure more defendants undergo mental health
evaluations. The bill now sits on Democratic Gov. Josh Stein's desk
for his consideration.
Committee Republicans also cited the need for more restrictive bail
policies for magistrates and aggressive prosecutors not willing to
drop charges for violent crimes.
Another speaker, Steve Federico, from suburban Charlotte, demanded
justice for his 22-year-old daughter, Logan, who was shot to death
in May at a home in Columbia, South Carolina, while visiting
friends. The suspect charged in her killing had faced nearly 40
charges within the last decade, WIS-TV reported.
“I'’m not going to be quiet until somebody helps. Logan deserves to
be heard," Steve Federico told the representatives. “Everyone on
this panel deserves to be heard. And we will — trust me.”
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Robertson reported from Raleigh, North Carolina.
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