Mother, sister of Charlotte stabbing suspect describe history of mental illness
The mother and sister of Decarlos Brown, the suspect in the fatal stabbing of a Ukrainian woman on Charlotte light rail, say that he struggled with mental illness for years after being released from prison and that he claimed there was a "material" in his body that controlled him.
Brown, 34, was arrested on Aug. 22 after police say he stabbed 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska three times while riding the Lynx Blue Line in Charlotte, according to an affidavit obtained by ABC News.
In audio recordings of a conversation between Brown and his sister several days after his arrest, obtained by ABC News, Brown maintains that he has “material” in his body that caused him to attack Zarutska.
"Make sure it was me that did it, not the material. And I'm telling you, the material did it," Brown said, according to the recordings.
The suspect can be heard telling his sister that he did not "even know the lady at all."
"I never said not one word to the lady at all. That scary, ain't it? So, like, why would somebody stab somebody for no reason?" Brown can be heard telling his sister.
Brown has been charged by the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Western District of North Carolina with committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system, which could make him eligible for the death penalty, the Department of Justice said Tuesday.
"This brutal attack on an innocent woman simply trying to get to her destination is an attack on the American way of life. Of course, crimes like this affect the victim the most -- Iryna deserves justice, and we will bring justice to her and her family," U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson said in a statement on Tuesday.
Brown's sister and mother said they noticed a difference in his behavior following his incarceration, which ended in 2020, and that it got worse over the three years since he was released.
Brown's mother, Michelle Dewitt, said her was son was diagnosed with schizophrenia and after his time in prison, he "was different."
"He wasn't the normal Carlos, the fun Carlos," Dewit told ABC News in a separate interview.
The 34-year-old suspect has a criminal record including larceny and breaking and entering charges. He also spent five years in prison for robbery with a dangerous weapon starting in 2015, according to the North Carolina Department of Adult Correction. He was also arrested this year for misusing the 911 system, according to court records.
In total, Brown has been charged 14 times in the past, including an arrest in January, but was "still on the streets" leading up to the attack, North Carolina FBI Special Agent James Barnacle Jr. said on Tuesday.
