NC Senate GOP approves bill named for Charlotte train murder victim Iryna Zarutska that takes aim at cashless bail
North Carolina Senate Republicans have pushed forward a tough new bill named Iryna’s Law, honoring a young Ukrainian refugee killed in a brutal stabbing on a Charlotte light rail train. The measure aims to scrap cashless bail for violent offenders and shake up the state’s criminal justice system in other big ways.
Iryna Zarutska, just 23 years old, lost her life on August 22 while riding the Blue Line home from her job at a local pizza shop. Authorities quickly arrested Decarlos Brown Jr., a 34-year-old homeless man with schizophrenia and a long history of arrests—more than 14 before this incident. They charged him with murder after catching him on a nearby platform. Brown had walked free after a January arrest for a fake 911 call, thanks to a simple written promise to show up in court.
Surveillance video captured the horrific attack, fueling widespread anger across the country. It kicked off heated talks about cashless bail reform and how to keep public transit riders safe. Just last week, Senators Tim Scott from South Carolina and Thom Tillis from North Carolina introduced a federal bill to create a task force on public transportation violence. The plan would improve reporting of these incidents to Congress.
“Every American deserves to feel safe traveling to work, school, or anywhere else on public transit,” Scott said. “No one should ever fear for their life while trying to go to school or to and from work.” As chair of the Senate Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs Committee, he’s leading the charge.
In North Carolina, the bill—known as House Bill 307—targets pretrial release rules for people charged with violent crimes. It would end cashless bail options for them and introduce harsher sentences for attacks on public transportation passengers. The legislation also pushes to bring back the death penalty in the state, where executions have been on hold since 2006 due to legal hurdles.
The Senate approved the bill Monday night, and the Republican-controlled House plans to debate it Tuesday. Senate Leader Phil Berger celebrated the move on X, saying, “For nearly two decades, judicial and administrative roadblocks have stopped true justice for victims, and it’s time for that to end.”
Democrats pushed back hard. They voted against the death penalty amendment and some even walked out, refusing to vote on the full bill. Mecklenburg County Senator Mujtaba Mohammed criticized it during a Senate judiciary meeting, calling the bill an attempt to “exploit grief for headlines, clicks and votes.”
The Justice Department notes that Brown’s charge—committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system—could make him eligible for the death penalty. President Trump weighed in on Truth Social on September 10, slamming Brown as an “ANIMAL” and demanding execution. “There can be no other option!!!” he wrote.
Zarutska’s family remembers her as a kind-hearted person who loved animals and cherished her loved ones. Her tragic death has spotlighted urgent calls for better safety on public transit and reforms to keep repeat offenders off the streets.
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