North Carolina Stabbing Sparks Outcry: Mother Blames System For Son's Violent Attack

Family says man with history of mental illness and prior arrests was failed by justice system before fatal bus stabbing.

The mother of a man accused of fatally stabbing a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee on a city bus is speaking out, telling a local television station that the justice system should never have allowed her son to be on the streets. Decarlos Brown Jr., 34, a homeless ex-convict with a history of mental health issues and prior arrests, is charged in the brutal attack on Iryna Zarutska, which was captured on surveillance footage.

The footage from the Charlotte Area Transit System shows Zarutska being repeatedly stabbed by Brown on August 22, just four minutes after she boarded the bus. In an interview with WSOC-TV , Brown’s mother described the event as “atrocious” and “horri