CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The trial of a defendant accused of fatally stabbing a Ukrainian refugee aboard a commuter train has been postponed after a federal judge determined the accused cannot proceed due to mental health issues, ruling Tuesday that he must receive medical treatment in an attempt to restore his fitness for trial.
Decarlos Brown Jr., 35, is facing federal charges for causing death on a mass transportation system in connection with the killing of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte. The charge carries the possibility of capital punishment. A corresponding state case charging Brown with first-degree murder remains suspended while the federal proceedings continue.
Following a request from Brown’s legal team, U.S. District Judge Kenneth D. Bell determined that the defendant lacks the mental capacity to stand trial at this time and directed that he spend as long as four months receiving treatment at a prison medical facility in hopes of restoring his competency.
In court documents filed Tuesday, Brown’s defense team stated their client wanted the judge to know the following: “I would like to tell the court I have a body emergency. Someone has full access to my body and they are controlling me wrongfully. And law enforcement refuses to investigate it. And it requires for an investigation. When describing the technology someone was using I was misdiagnosed with schizophrenia.”
According to his attorneys, Brown is seeking a court directive requiring law enforcement to investigate his claimed body emergency.
A sealed forensic assessment conducted by federal mental health professionals was submitted in the federal case in April. The evaluation concluded that Brown “is presently not competent to stand trial, but that his prognosis for restoration to competency is favorable with appropriate medication therapy,” according to the judge’s written order.
The judge determined that Brown “is suffering from a mental disease or defect that renders him unable to understand the nature and consequences of the proceedings or to assist properly in his defense,” Bell stated in his ruling.
Bell directed that Brown be placed under the custody of the attorney general for medical care and treatment “to determine whether there is a substantial probability” that Brown will be capable of proceeding “in the foreseeable future.”
Following the treatment period, the judge will assess whether Brown’s mental competency has been restored and if the case can proceed, whether additional treatment is necessary, or whether Brown cannot be made competent to stand trial, according to the court order.
