‘Iryna’s Law’ May Send Ukrainian Refugee’s Assailant To The Firing Squad

North Carolina Governor Josh Stein signed House Bill 307, known as ‘Iryna’s Law,’ on Friday. 

The law comes after the killing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska in August, who was stabbed on a Charlotte light rail train.

Zarutska, 23, was commuting home when Decarlos Dejuan Brown Jr. stabbed her. 

North Carolina Governor signed ‘Iryna’s Law’ after the killing of the Ukrainian refugee

Young Ukrainian refugee woman with blonde hair and natural makeup, representing Iryna’s Law and justice for assailants.

Image credits: Go Fund Me

Brown had multiple previous arrests and was out on cashless bail at the time of the attack. 

He faces state and federal charges, including first-degree murder. He could receive the death penalty if convicted.

“House Bill 307, or ‘Iryna’s Law,’ alerts the judiciary to take a special look at people who may pose unusual risks of violence before determining their bail. That’s a good thing and why I have signed it into law,” Stein said in a video statement Friday.

“We can and must do more to keep people safe,” Stein said. “When I review public safety legislation that comes to my desk, I use one simple test: Does it make people safer?”

The bill also includes a controversial amendment that could allow North Carolina to restart executions using methods other than lethal injection, such as firing squads.  

Stein criticized some aspects of the bill, such as the fact that it focuses more on a defendant’s capacity to post bail rather than their threat. 

Even “more alarming,” he added, was a last-minute amendment that “aims to bring about execution by firing squad in North Carolina. It’s barbaric,” he said. 

North Carolina’s last execution was in 2006.

The law requires appeals in death penalty cases to be completed within two years and adds more prosecutors in Mecklenburg County. It also requires the magistrates to provide written explanations if they allow some defendants to post bail.

The bill permits resuming executions through methods like firing squads

Man in suit speaking at an outdoor podium with columns in background, referencing Ukrainian refugee assailant law.

Image credits: Drew Angerer/Getty Images

The law makes it harder for violent offenders to get out on bail. It bans cashless bail for some violent crimes and repeat offenders. 

Judges must carefully consider a defendant’s risk of violence before granting pretrial release. 

The bill also requires more defendants to have mental health evaluations. 

Brown has a history of mental health incidents and claimed that foreign “materials” in his body, planted by the government, controlled his actions during the killing.

Mugshot of a man with dreadlocks in an orange prison jumpsuit related to Ukrainian refugee assailant case.

Image credits: Mecklenburg Sheriff

His sister, Tracey Brown, also said Brown had been struggling with paranoid schizophrenia.

“Finally, we are getting dangerous criminals off our streets so we can make sure no one else suffers the heartbreak that Iryna Zarutska’s family endured,” Republican state Rep. Tricia Cotham said in a news release.

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