RALEIGH — A motion for a continuance has been filed in the trial of Decarlos Brown Jr., the man accused of murdering Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on Charlotte’s light rail train system last August.
The motion, filed by Assistant Public Defender Daniel P. Roberts on April 7, asked a Mecklenburg County Superior Court judge to postpone the Rule 24 hearing in his first-degree murder case, currently set for April 30. A Rule 24 hearing is a required procedural step in death penalty-eligible cases addressing intervention and management.
According to the motion, Brown had been “evaluated at Central Regional Hospital,” and a report issued on Dec. 29, 2025, found he was “incapable to proceed.” Shortly afterward, Brown was indicted in federal court in the Western District of North Carolina and transferred to federal custody.
Roberts is requesting a 180-day continuance, or until further order of the court. The state has been notified and consented to the delay.
The motion argues the capacity hearing is a “critical stage” of the proceedings that cannot occur while Brown remains in federal custody. Even if the court accepts the hospital’s findings and orders competency restoration, those steps cannot be conducted in the federal system, according to the motion.
