Iryna Zarutska's father unable to attend funeral because draft eligibility prevents him from leaving Ukraine

The father of Iryna Zarutska, the 23-year-old Ukrainian woman who was stabbed to death on a light rail train by 34-year-old suspect Decarlos Brown, was not able to come to her funeral as a result of the war between Russia and Ukraine, a neighbor to the family has said. Zarutska's father had to stay in Ukraine as the war rages on.

"He had to stay back. He didn’t come for the funeral," a neighbor to the family in Charlotte who wished to stay anonymous told the New York Post. “He’s still there for whatever the war time rules are." In Ukraine, since 2022, men of military age have been banned from leaving the country due to the draft. 

Zarutska was stabbed to death on August 22 while she rode the light rail in Charlotte, North Carolina. A man identified in footage as 34-year-old Decarlos Brown, who had been arrested 14 separate times, was seated behind the 23-year-old after she got off work at a pizzeria. The suspect unfolded a pocketknife, stood up behind the unsuspecting woman, and stabbed her three times in the area of her neck.

He then got up and wandered about the train car and muttered the words "I got that white girl," multiple times. New footage revealed that immediately after getting stabbed, Zarutska cowered in fear as she looked up Brown towering over her. Nobody immediately rushed to her aid as the perpetrator walked around the train car, blood dripping from the hand he used to stab her.

Zarutska died at the scene, and Brown was taken into custody afterwards by police and charged with first-degree murder.

“They’re taking it really hard,” the neighbor said of Zarutska's family. “She was sweet. The whole neighborhood loved her. Everyone loved her here. She did a lot of pet sitting for neighbors. She was a good, sweet person."

An obituary detailed Zarutska's dreams of becoming a veterinary assistant and how she left Ukraine with her mother, sister, and brother to escape the war with Russia.

"Iryna is survived by her parents, Anna and Stanislav; her sister, Valeriia; her brother, Bohdan; her life partner, Stas Nikulytsia; aunt, Valeria Haskell (Frank Scott); her cousins, Vera Falkner and Viktor Falkner; and many cherished family members and friends," the obituary read.

"Iryna will be remembered for her kindness, her creativity, and the lasting impression she left on everyone she met. Her absence leaves a deep void, but her spirit will forever remain in the hearts of those who loved her."