The family of Decarlos Brown Jr., the man who murdered Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, is teeming with hardened criminals.
The criminality starts at the top with Brown’s father, Decarlos Brown Sr., who’s faced arrests for “breaking and entering, felony conspiracy, larceny, and possession of a weapon on a university campus,” according to Fox News.
The criminality worsens with Brown’s older brother, Stacey Brown, who murdered a 65-year-old white man during a 2012 robbery and then made a run for it on the same light rail line on which Zarutska was murdered.
Iryna Zarutska’s killer DeCarlos Brown Jr. has a half-brother who also murdered a White person.
Stacey Dejon Brown shot a 65 year old man in the face while he was walking home from work in 2012 over an attempt to steal the man’s phone.
pic.twitter.com/A8Y74d90kx— Keith Woods (@KeithWoodsYT) September 10, 2025
Brown later “pleaded guilty in April 2014 to a string of violent offenses, including second-degree murder, two counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon, assault with intent to kill, and breaking or entering a motor vehicle.”
Brown’s North Carolina Department of Corrections inmate records show that he’s consistently been in trouble since arriving in prison.
The record contains 44 infractions for everything from lock tampering to disobeying orders, refusing to submit to drug tests, substance possession, fighting, and more.
The criminality continues with Brown’s sister, 33-year-old Tracey Vontrea.
Her criminal record includes charges for “misdemeanor shoplifting, larceny, felony conspiracy, vehicle theft and resisting public officers, with her most recent arrests coming in 2024 for misdemeanor larceny, felony conspiracy and shoplifting,” according to Fox News.
The one exception is Brown’s other brother, Jeremiah. In addition to being crime-free, Jeremiah is also someone who believes in law and order.
“I think they could have pretty much prevented it then,” he told the New York Post, referencing Zarutska’s murder. “I didn’t even know he had mental problems. You can’t just let him walk free, especially because of mental issues. He could do it again.”
“They should still treat him for his mental issues, but there are consequences for his actions. I think he should suffer the consequences,” he added.
By “they,” he meant people like the magistrate judge who set lax terms for Brown’s release after his previous arrest in January.
He was arrested at the time for calling 911 and claiming that he had a “man-made” material inside of him that was controlling his actions.
“Police say Brown misused 911 when he called the emergency line while at a hospital and asked for help getting the material out of him. Officers told Brown they couldn’t help him,” The Charlotte Observer reported at the time.
After charging him, Mecklenburg Magistrate Judge Teresa Stokes then released Brown back onto the streets without him having to post bond. All he had to do was sign a written promise to later return to court.
To this day, he continues to claim to have some “man-made” material within him:
BREAKING: Decarlos Brown Jr. speaks from jail for the first time since the brutal murder of Iryna Zarutska.
He claims the government implanted “materials” in his body that made him commit the horrific crime.
“The material. Put it like that. The material using my body. It’s… pic.twitter.com/SxKNqbpNe5
— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) September 10, 2025
After Zarutska’s murder, President Donald Trump released a statement accusing Stokes, whom he called “a Democrat judge,” of leaving Brown “free to slaughter an innocent woman.”
Meanwhile, North Carolina Rep. Tim Moore penned a letter in which he wrote that Stokes “had the chance to protect the public and chose not to” and was therefore “unfit to hold this consequential position.”
As for Brown, federal authorities announced this week that he’s been federally charged with one count of committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system.
“Iryna Zarutska had likely taken that train ride many times before,” James C. Barnacle Jr., the FBI Charlotte special agent in charge, said. “She was probably tired after a day at work and just wanted to go home, but tragically, she never made it.”
“We hope this federal charge will help bring her family a measure of justice, and the courts will hold the subject charged in this horrific act accountable. Everyone in this country deserves to go to work, to school, or just across town without fear of being attacked,” he added.
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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