Last August, Decarlos Brown Jr.—a mentally ill repeat offender out on bail—allegedly stabbed 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska to death on a Charlotte light rail train. Video of the shocking murder prompted widespread outrage, pushing the North Carolina legislature to pass a law named for Zarutska and meant to overhaul the state’s criminal justice and mental-health system.
Iryna Zarutska’s Alleged Killer Could Walk Free. Here’s Why.
Under both federal law and North Carolina law, no person can be tried, convicted, or sentenced while mentally incompetent.
