CHARLOTTE, NORTH CAROLINA — One year after 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska was fatally attacked aboard a Charlotte light-rail train, her family has filed a wrongful-death lawsuit against the City of Charlotte and the private security company responsible for security on the transit system.

The lawsuit accuses the city and Professional Security Services (PSS) of failing to provide adequate security and safety measures despite previous incidents of violence around Charlotte’s light-rail system. The family argues that what happened to Zarutska was preventable.

💔 One Year After Iryna’s Final Ride
Zarutska had moved to Charlotte from Ukraine after fleeing the war.

On the evening of August 22, 2025, she boarded the Lynx Blue Line in Charlotte’s South End after finishing work.

Surveillance footage showed a man later identified as Decarlos Brown Jr. sitting behind her.

Police say Brown suddenly stood and attacked Zarutska with a knife.

She suffered fatal injuries aboard the train.

Investigators said Zarutska and Brown did not know each other.

Brown was arrested shortly afterward and charged with murder.

He was later charged federally with an offense involving an act causing death on a mass transportation system.

⚖️ Family Says the Tragedy Could Have Been Prevented
The lawsuit, filed in Mecklenburg County Superior Court, argues that Charlotte and PSS failed to take reasonable steps to protect passengers.

Attorney Lauren Newton, who represents Zarutska’s family and estate, described the situation as a series of systemic failures that had existed within Charlotte’s transit system for years.

The complaint specifically points to:

Lack of fare enforcement
Lack of physical barriers at transit entrances
Insufficient security staffing
Inadequate deployment of security personnel
Insufficient monitoring
Lack of passenger warnings about safety risks
The lawsuit argues that these failures allowed people to access the transit system without being stopped or questioned.

🚨 Security Staffing Is a Major Focus
One of the strongest allegations concerns the number of security officers working for PSS.

According to the lawsuit, Charlotte’s contract provided funding for 219 security positions, including as many as 39 armed security personnel.

But the complaint alleges that at the time Zarutska was attacked, PSS had only 183 security employees, including just 11 armed guards.

The lawsuit further alleges that there was no security guard aboard the train when Zarutska was attacked.

Newton argued that a visible security presence could have deterred the attack.

However, that assertion remains an allegation in the lawsuit and has not been established in court.

🎟️ Questions Over Fare Enforcement
The lawsuit also focuses heavily on how riders accessed the CATS system.

According to the complaint, Brown was able to use Charlotte’s public transportation system without paying a fare.

The family argues that the absence of physical barriers and meaningful fare enforcement made it possible for people to board trains without being screened or challenged.

The lawsuit claims CATS bus drivers had previously been instructed not to confront passengers over unpaid fares, an issue WBTV had reported on before Zarutska’s death.

🔎 State Auditor Had Already Raised Concerns
The family’s lawsuit comes shortly after a report from North Carolina State Auditor Dave Boliek examining Charlotte’s transit security system.

The report identified concerns involving security planning, risk assessment and coordination between CATS and the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.

The lawsuit cites those findings as additional evidence that authorities had been aware of weaknesses in the system before Zarutska’s death.

The complaint also points to previous violent incidents around Blue Line stations as evidence that serious crime on the system was not unforeseeable.

🚔 Brown’s Criminal Case Continues
While the family pursues its civil lawsuit, Brown’s criminal case remains ongoing.

Brown has been accused of fatally attacking Zarutska and remains in custody.

His federal public defenders previously sought a competency hearing.

More recently, Brown was determined to be mentally incompetent to stand trial, and efforts are underway to restore his competency before the criminal proceedings can continue.

The criminal case and the family’s civil lawsuit are separate proceedings.

🕯️ Iryna Had Come to America Seeking Safety
Zarutska’s story has received national attention partly because of the circumstances that brought her to the United States.

She had fled Ukraine after Russia’s invasion and came to America seeking a safer future.

Instead, her life ended during what should have been an ordinary journey home.

Her family now says they want more than compensation.

They want changes to Charlotte’s transit system so that other passengers do not experience a similar tragedy.

🏛️ Charlotte Declines to Comment on Active Litigation
The City of Charlotte has declined to comment on the lawsuit because the case is now active litigation.

PSS had not provided a response to WBTV at the time of publication.

That means the allegations contained in the complaint have not yet been tested through the court process.

The lawsuit represents the family’s claims, not findings that the city or security company is legally responsible.

💰 Family Seeks Damages and Accountability
The estate is seeking monetary damages related to Zarutska’s wrongful death.

The complaint also seeks punitive damages against PSS.

But for Zarutska’s family, the lawsuit appears to be about more than money.

Their attorney says the goal is to address what the family believes were longstanding weaknesses in Charlotte’s public-transit security.

They want Iryna’s death to lead to lasting changes.

A Year Later, Questions Remain
One year after the attack, the tragedy has become a broader examination of public-transit safety in Charlotte.

The lawsuit raises difficult questions about how much security should be present on trains, whether passengers should face stronger fare enforcement and whether transit systems need physical barriers to control access.

It also raises a more fundamental question:

Could stronger security measures have prevented Iryna Zarutska’s final journey from becoming a tragedy?

The Zarutska family believes the answer is yes.

That question will now move from public debate into the courtroom.

One year after Iryna Zarutska’s final ride, her family is seeking accountability — and hoping the lawsuit will force changes that could make Charlotte’s transit system safer for everyone.

Sources: WSOC-TV: WSOC-TV — Iryna Zarutska family files lawsuit