Iryna Zarutska, 23, was killed on a train in North Carolina after fleeing the Russian invasion[/caption]
CCTV
Footage shows the moment Iryna was savagely attacked[/caption]
AP
Trump has weighed in on the sick murder of Iryna[/caption]
Her cold-blooded murder has since rocked the US as her killer, Decarlos Brown Jr., – who was allegedly homeless at the time of the attack – already had 14 previous arrests under his belt.
Outraged citizens online slammed the fundraisers as twisted, disgusting, and a slap in the face to the victim’s memory.
And now, weighing in on his Truth Social platform, the US President seethed Democrats “have blood on their hands” and blamed Iryna’s death on their refusal to “put bad people in jail”.
Citing the chilling CCTV footage of the “beautiful, young Ukrainian refugee” being mercilessly stabbed on the train, he warned North Carolina needs renewed “law and order”.
The post read: “I have seen the horrific video of a beautiful, young Ukrainian refugee, who came to America to escape the vicious War in Ukraine, and was innocently riding the Metro in Charlotte, North Carolina, where she was brutally ambushed by a mentally deranged lunatic.
“The perpetrator was a well known career criminal, who had been previously arrested and released on CASHLESS BAIL in January, a total of 14 TIMES.
“What the hell was he doing riding the train, and walking the streets? Criminals like this need to be LOCKED UP.
“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.
“North Carolina, and every State, needs LAW AND ORDER, and only Republicans will deliver it! Additionally, where is the outrage from the Mainstream Media on this horrible tragedy?
“VOTE FOR MICHAEL WHATLEY FOR UNITED STATES SENATE, HE WON’T LET THIS HAPPEN AGAIN!”
FUNDRAISERS SPARK FURY
Following Iryna’s death a GoFundMe, which has since been taken down, appealed for cash to help Brown’s defence and help the “fight against the racism and bias against our people”.
Another fundraiser was titled, “Fight against the racism and bias against our people,” implying that the mental health system failed Brown due to his race.
“While what happened on the Blue Line was a tragedy, what we mustn’t lose sight of is the fact that Decarlos Brown Jr. was failed categorically by the judicial system and the mental health services of North Carolina, and as such is not entirely to blame for what happened,” one deleted GoFundMe page claimed, per The New York Post.
“Thank you for giving us a hand to push against this corrupt narrative,” another fundraiser stated.
GoFundMe has stated that raising money for the legal defense of those who have been charged with violent crimes is a direct violation of the platform’s policies.
“GoFundMe’s Terms of Service explicitly prohibit fundraisers that raise money for the legal defense of anyone formally charged with a violent crime,” a GoFundMe spokesperson said in a statement to The U.S. Sun.
WBTV
Declarlos Brown Jr., 34, was arrested and charged with murder[/caption]
Instagram
The ‘beautiful’ Ukrainian was the subject of a ‘random attack’[/caption]
Instagram
Iryna’s death has sparked turmoil in the US[/caption]
“Consistent with this long-standing policy, all fundraisers for Decarlos Brown Jr.’s legal defense have been removed from the platform, and any donors who contributed have been fully refunded.”
Outraged citizens online slammed the fundraisers.
One user wrote: “You can’t make this up. He [allegedly] murdered in cold blood and yet his supporters want you to think he was ‘failed’ by the system. Instead, he did exactly what the system wants him to do.”
“Anyone who donated to the GoFundMe for Decarlos Dejuan Brown should be named and f**king shamed!” another person wrote online.
“Race has f**k all to do with it! There would be absolute rage if the race was reversed!”
PREVIOUS ARRESTS
Brown had previously been arrested in January 2025 for misusing the 911 system, claiming that someone had planted a “man-made” substance into his body that controlled how he walked, talked, and ate, according to an arrest affidavit.
Before he called 911, police conducted a welfare check on Brown, where they told him he was suffering from a medical issue and there was nothing law enforcement could do for him.
Brown became irate at their response, called 911, and was arrested shortly after, according to the Charlotte Observer.
In July 2025, Brown’s public defender for the January 2025 arrest questioned his capacity to continue with the legal proceedings, prompting a judge to order a forensic mental health evaluation, as reported by Queen City News.
The evaluation, however, was never completed.
Decarlos Brown Jr.’s criminal history
This is a timeline of Decarlos Brown Jr.’s criminal history since 2011
2011-Present: Arrested 14+ times for various crimes such as felony larceny, armed robbery with a dangerous weapon, burglary, shoplifting, assault, making threats/communicating threats, misuse of 911/false emergency calls
2020: Sentenced to prison for felony larceny and armed robbery
2021: Assaulted his sister shortly after release, causing minor injuries
January 2025: Arrested for misusing 911 and claiming man-made substances controlled his body
July 2025: Mental Health evaluation ordered with a schizophrenia diagnosis, but the evaluation was not carried out
AP
Haunting footage showed the moments just before her death[/caption]
CCTV
Brown had 14 previous arrests under his belt[/caption]
WBTV
She had been living in the US for about three years before she was violently killed[/caption]
THE cop who secured the release of Madeleine McCann prime suspect Christian Brueckner as early as this week is an ex German FBI agent who “felt sorry for him”.
A BRITISH woman who was facing 60 years in prison in America after she was caught with £15m of cocaine will be home in 24 months after she struck a plea deal.
Kim Hall, 29, was stopped at Chicago’s O’Hare airport with 43kg of the Class A d…
A BRITISH law student sentenced to 25 years in prison over cocaine charges is facing “living hell” in a Dubai jail – but three questions still hang over her case.
Mia O’Brien, 23, was arrested last October after she was reportedly found with 50g of cocaine – worth around £2,500 in the UK.
Mia O’Brien faces the next 25 years in prison in DubaiGoFundMe
She was arrested last October after she was found with 50g of cocaine[/caption]
GoFundMe
Her mum, Danielle, insists her daughter is innocent[/caption]
Convicted after a one-day Arabic trial on July 25, the Brit from Huyton, Merseyside, is now caged in Al-Awir prison, dubbed the Gulf state’s “Alcatraz”.
Her devastated mum Danielle McKenna insists her daughter is innocent, branding the verdict a “miscarriage of justice” and revealing Mia “has never taken a drug in her life”.
Do you have any information on this story? Get in touch atjuliana.cruzlima@the-sun.co.uk
Horror stories from inmates who have previously been locked up and those from the families of Brits still trapped behind bars paint a disturbing picture of Al-Awir.
He compared the Al-Awir jail to the “Dubai version of Alcatraz” during his sentence.
In his memoir, he recalled seeing inmates being stabbed to death in violent clashes that were not stopped by guards.
In a statement, he said that his testicles had been electrocuted while he was interrogated by police.
“They pulled down my trousers, spread my legs and started to electrocute my testicles,” he wrote in the statement.
“It was unbelievably painful. I was so scared. I started to believe that I was going to die in that room.”
Their lawyers also said that the men were forced to sign documents in Arabic at gunpoint.
Karl claimed Russian gangsters ruled the prison wards and allegedly used HIV-positive inmates to rape and deliberately infect others as a form of punishment.
At least four HIV-positive prisoners at Al-Awir were allegedly denied medication up to five months, according to another shocking report by the Human Rights Watch.
His claims were repeated in 2021 by 60-year-old Albert Douglas who told The Sun Online prisoners are raped, tortured and even starved by the cruel guards.
Dubai’s prison system and government deny all the claims.
The mystery deepened further when GoFundMe abruptly pulled the fundraiser for “violating guidelines” – cutting off one of the family’s few lifelines of support.
A GoFundMe spokesperson told The Sun: “It was removed because it violates Term 9 of the Prohibited Conduct section in our Terms of Service.
“Term 9 prohibits raising funds on GoFundMe for the legal defence of certain alleged crimes.”
The fundraiser – which had a target of £1,600 – made just under £700 before it was removed.
Who really owned the drugs?
The 50g of cocaine – a “huge amount” according to Mia’s mum – was found in her Dubai apartment in “one big chunk”.
Prosecutors accused Mia of intent to supply, but she pleaded not guilty.
Her mum insists her daughter was just “caught up in it” and is hopeful she will be allowed to return to the UK soon.
Mia has never taken a drug in her life and would never dream of selling cocaine, according to her mum.
Danielle is confident that her daughter is innocent as she labelled Mia a “victim of a miscarriage of justice”.
Adding: “I definitely don’t think she was going to sell the drugs or bring them back.
“It’s a lot of drugs but there are others involved and she has just been caught up in it.”
The Al-Awir prison is notorious for facing dozens of horror allegations of abuse, torture and rape from former inmatesMia was arrested along with two othersBrit Karl Williams compared the Al-Awir jail to the ‘Dubai version of Alcatraz’ during his sentence