The man accused of killing Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a North Carolina train last August has been found incompetent to stand trial.
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A hearing was held on Tuesday to discuss the competency of Decarlos Brown Jr., who was charged in connection with Zarutska’s fatal stabbing on a Charlotte Area Transit System train.
Video from the incident show Zarutska being stabbed in the neck by a passenger seated behind her without any provocation. Seconds later, without receiving help or any visible concern from other train passengers, Zarutska collapses to the train floor, where she was later pronounced dead.
Brown was evaluated by medical and correctional staff at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in Chicago after a court ordered an evaluation to determine his competency in January, a judge said in a North Carolina court Tuesday. On April 14, it was concluded that he was not competent to stand trial, but his prognosis to be restored to competency through medication was good.
The judge on Tuesday ordered that Brown be hospitalized and treated for four months, at which time there will be another hearing to determine if he is competent to stand trial. Brown will remain in custody throughout this time, according to U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson.
If Brown’s competency does not improve enough for him to stand trial, he will not be released because he would be “a serious risk” to others, the judge said.
During the hearing, Brown had a couple of outbursts, including one where he said he wanted to sue the FBI. The judge advised him to be quiet.
Ferguson spoke to reporters after the hearing, saying that prosecutors’ goal is to seek justice for Zarutska and her family, adding that he is hopeful Brown’s competency will be restored.
Ferguson said Brown had been having outbursts since the case began, and has made comments about “some sort of material that controls him.”
“He has to be able to understand the proceedings against him and be able to assist in his defense, and I think you saw from his actions today, he’s not quite there yet,” Ferguson said.
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