On Friday morning, ABC’s Good Morning America featured an exclusive interview with the Uncle (left unnamed) of murdered Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, conducted by Stephanie Ramos. The focus remained mostly on Zarutska’s innocence and abruptly-shortened future.
Keeping the focus on Zarutska, Ramos briefly touching on the suspect’s criminal record. Zarutska’s passing was completely unexpected, especially when considering that her family said “she had never felt unsafe on the train and didn't deserve to lose her life”:
RAMOS: Disturbing surveillance video captured her final moments—Iryna boarding the train after work, taking a seat. Moments later, she was brutally attacked.
UNCLE: I watched that video, and, you know, the mannerisms that she had was just terrible. She didn't deserve that. Nobody does.
RAMOS: Police say the suspect, 34 year old DeCarlos Brown Jr., has a long arrest record. His family tells ABC news he suffers from schizophrenia and had stopped taking his medication.
The morning program could be forgiven for taking a softer tone on the gruesome details. Who wants to hear about that right after waking up, and when the focus was on the victim? As Ramos noted, ABC previously reported on Brown’s disturbed history, including his mental illness, failure to take medication, and the supposedly body-controlling “material” that he ingested.
The lack of uber-partisan diatribe was also noteworthy. There were no calls for stronger gun control or better mental health support, at least not on-air in the morning:
RAMOS: What would you want people to know, not only about her, but to take away from this senseless murder?
UNCLE: Things have to change. Our country has to change on how we deal with these situations and, you know, that requires our leadership to take action. And a need for them to take action.
ABC had the decency to include the family’s sense of patriotism. Iryna was a refugee, “fleeing the war in Ukraine,” and didn’t simply kick back and take it easy, “liv[ing] with her uncle, aunt, mother and siblings, working at a pizza shop while planning for her future.” Her Uncle even reminisced about her plans to attend veterinarian school:
RAMOS: How would you want her to be remembered?
UNCLE: She had a strong desire to have a better life. And I think that's, you know, really what—think that’s what the American dream is. She wanted better things for not just yourself, but for her family. And she was working towards that.
The insight Zarutska’s hopeful aspirations was refreshing and apolitical, which was perhaps why the interview was relegated to GMA. But questions still need to be answered, the most important being: Why wasn’t Brown, a consistent threat to public order and safety, not locked up for good prior to this tragedy?
The transcript is below. Click "expand" read:
ABC’s Good Morning America
September 12, 2025
7:32:30 a.m. Eastern(…)
STEPHANIE RAMOS: Hey, good morning, Deborah, just a heartbreaking conversation. The family of Iryna Zarutska, the 23 year old Ukrainian refugee fatally stabbed on a Charlotte light rail train, says she had never felt unsafe on the train and didn't deserve to lose her life.
[Cuts to video]
This morning, the family of 23 year old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, who was murdered on a Charlotte light rail train weeks ago, is speaking out.
UNCLE: Iryna was the glue of the family.
RAMOS: Disturbing surveillance video captured her final moments—Iryna boarding the train after work, taking a seat. Moments later, she was brutally attacked.
UNCLE: I watched that video, and, you know, the mannerisms that she had was just terrible. She didn't deserve that. Nobody does.
RAMOS: Police say the suspect, 34 year old DeCarlos Brown Jr., has a long arrest record. His family tells ABC news he suffers from schizophrenia and had stopped taking his medication.
Iryna had come to the U.S. in 2022, fleeing the war in Ukraine. She lived with her uncle, aunt, mother and siblings, working at a pizza shop while planning for her future.
UNCLE: Her desire was to go to veterinarian school and—she was making plans to do that and, you know, that was taken from us.
RAMOS: Now, her family is calling for change to make communities safer.
What would you want people to know, not only about her, but to take away from this senseless murder?
UNCLE: Things have to change. Our country has to change on how we deal with these situations and, you know, that requires our leadership to take action. And a need for them to take action.
RAMOS: For her uncle, justice is about more than a trial. It's about remembering the young woman chasing the American dream.
How would you want her to be remembered?
UNCLE: She had a strong desire to have a better life. And I think that's, you know, really what—think that’s what the American dream is. She wanted better things for not just yourself, but for her family. And she was working towards that.
[Cuts back to live]
RAMOS: Iryna's family is heartbroken, as you can imagine. Her uncle telling us that she came here to find peace and safety, and instead her life was stolen from her in the most horrific way. Now they hold on to her memories, her love, and her art as well. She was into art. Guys.
(…)