Ukrainian Refugee Stabbed to Death on Train in US, Shocking Video Goes Viral

She fled the devastation of war in Ukraine hoping to build a safer life in America. Weeks later, 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska was brutally stabbed to death on a train by a career criminal. The attack was caught on surveillance camera.

The footage, made public Friday by the Charlotte Area Transit System, captures the final moments before Ms Zarutska was ambushed on the Lynx Blue Line before 10 pm on August 22 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Dressed in her pizzeria uniform, Ms Zarutska boarded the light rail at 9:46 pm and sat down, scrolling on her phone. Behind her, 34-year-old Decarlos Brown Jr waited. Four minutes later, he pulled out a folding knife and lunged forward, stabbing her three times, at least once in the neck, police said.

The video, edited to remove the moment of the stabbing, then shows Brown walking through the rail car, stripping off his sweatshirt and waiting by the doors as passengers began noticing blood dripping from him.

Investigators said Ms Zarutska clutched her neck as blood spilled onto the train floor before collapsing in her seat. She was pronounced dead on board.

Brown got off at the next stop, where police later recovered the knife near the platform. He was treated at a hospital for a cut on his hand before being taken into custody and charged with first-degree murder, according to the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department.

Court records show Brown has an extensive criminal history dating back to 2011, including arrests for larceny, robbery with a dangerous weapon and communicating threats. He previously served five years in prison for robbery with a deadly weapon, according to WSOC-TV.

In January, Brown was arrested for misusing 911 after what police described as a bizarre welfare check. At the time, he claimed a "man-made" material inside his body was controlling him as he ate, walked and talked, according to an affidavit cited by the Charlotte Observer.

Authorities have not identified a motive for the attack.