North Carolina legislators advanced a new bill seeking to rein in the state’s cashless bail policies on Monday, following last month’s deadly stabbing on the Charlotte light rail train in which an ex-convict is accused of killing a Ukrainian war refugee.
State Sen. Danny Britt, a Republican whose district includes Hoke, Robeson and Scotland counties, told the Senate Judiciary Committee that the bill essentially gets rid of written promises by violent defendants to appear at future court dates.
Instead, it requires judges only to allow those defendants out of jail on secured bonds, house arrest or some other kind of electronic monitoring, depending on their criminal history.
The bill also would task judges with justifying the release conditions they set — or risk suspension.
Lawmakers in Raleigh voted to move the bill to the Senate Committee on Rules and Operations.
The proposal, dubbed “Iryna’s Law,” is named for Iryna Zarutska, the 23-year-old refugee whose caught-on-camera stabbing death on a light rail train was so alarming that President Trump said her killer should be executed.
“Iryna should still be alive. She should be thriving and enjoying time with her family and friends,” Senate Leader Phil Berger, a Republican representing Guilford and Rockingham counties, said in a press release. “We cannot let North Carolina be held hostage by woke, weak-on-crime policies and court officials who prioritize criminals over justice for victims. We are also taking steps to revive the death penalty for those who commit the most heinous crimes.”
The Ukrainian woman’s slaying has also become a hot topic in the battleground state’s U.S. Senate race next year.
Republican candidate Michael Whatley said former Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat running for Senate, bears “direct responsibility” for the deadly attack on Zarutska because of a commission he created in June 2020 to address racial inequity in the criminal justice system.
The panel’s unveiling occurred weeks following the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.
But Mr. Cooper’s campaign said Mr. Whatley, a recent Republican National Committee chairman, was lying about the task force. The former governor’s campaign further said that Mr. Cooper signed a 2023 law that toughened pretrial release rules.
Zarutska boarded the Lynx light rail on Aug. 22 and sat down in front of suspect Decarlos Brown Jr.
About four minutes later, the suspect pulled out a knife and stabbed her three times around her neck. The assailant then walked through the train car with the blood-soaked weapon at his side.
The 34-year-old Brown, who has been arrested more than a dozen times and spent six years behind bars, was arrested shortly after the attack last month. Surveillance video released later by transit authorities catapulted the killing into the national spotlight.
“The animal who so violently killed the beautiful young lady from Ukraine, who came to America searching for peace and safety, should be given a ’Quick’ (there is no doubt!) Trial, and only awarded the death penalty,” Mr. Trump posted on Truth Social this month. “There can be no other option!!!”
Attorney General Pam Bondi said the Justice Department “will seek the maximum penalty for this unforgivable crime, and he will never again see the light of day as a free man.”
Federal prosecutors in North Carolina brought an additional charge of committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system. If convicted, Brown could be put to death.
Authorities said Brown is homeless and was reportedly diagnosed with schizophrenia, with his mental competency being evaluated.
• This story is based in part on wire service reports.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.