RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina Republican lawmakers pressed Charlotte-area leaders on Monday about crime-fighting efforts following recent light-rail stabbings in the Democratic-led city, with a committee head citing failures in carrying out criminal justice functions.
The August fatal stabbing death of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, followed in December by a non-fatal stabbing on the same Charlotte rail system, are among the chief reasons for GOP critiques of area law enforcement. The suspect in each stabbing faces charges in state and federal court.
GOP Rep. Brenden Jones, co-chairman of the state House oversight committee that took testimony from several officials, attributed Zarutska's killing to broad “incompetence.”
Democrats on the committee pushed back on Jones' words, with one lawmaker saying he saw no incompetence among many who testified. City officials and the local prosecutor focused their comments on anti-crime strategies already underway and lower crime rates.
Decarlos Brown Jr., the man accused in Zarutska’s death, had more than a dozen prior criminal arrests before the most recent charge, and concerns had been raised about his mental health. Republican lawmakers, as well as Trump and Vice President JD Vance, blamed Democratic leaders in Charlotte and statewide for soft-on-crime policies they allege allowed Brown to stay out of custody.
Zarutska had “come to America for a better life. She didn’t get that experience,” Jones said at the meeting’s start. “Her life was cut short not by one individual but by a system that allowed a career criminal to roam your streets.”
“Her blood is on your hands,” he added.
Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles, who was among those testifying Monday, wrote soon after Zarutska’s death that it was a “tragic failure by the courts and magistrates.” She and others have since highlighted additional safety measures for the light rail system.
Most of the committee’s vitriol Monday was targeted at the Mecklenburg County sheriff, who operates the local jail. The committee's past public scrutiny has been useful for Republicans politically on hot-button issues. The panel can seek more documents or could threaten funding losses — although that couldn’t occur without separate action by the full General Assembly.
Despite the harsh opening attack by Jones, committee members were cordial in their questioning of Lyles, new Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Estella Patterson and Mecklenburg District Attorney Spencer Merriweather.
During testimony, Merriweather suggested the need for more assistant prosecutors, earlier mental health interventions and combating more onerous crimes by juveniles.
While calling Jones' statement “strong,” the meeting “really lets me know that the General Assembly cares about Charlotte and they want to work with us to make our city safer," Patterson told reporters.
Still, in a news release after the meeting, Democratic Reps. Eric Ager and Maria Cervania accused the panel of engaging in “cynical partisan theatre to paint Charlotte in a negative light.”
Zarutska’s death has already resulted in a new state law that bars cashless bail for certain violent crimes and many repeat offenders. It also seeks to ensure more defendants undergo mental health evaluations. Democratic Gov. Josh Stein last week issued an executive order designed in part to address mental health treatment for people whom police confront and who are incarcerated.
Sheriff Garry McFadden has clashed for years with lawmakers who accused him of failing to cooperate with immigration agents seeking to apprehend defendants in his jail. A recent state law has now made it mandatory for sheriffs to honor detainers, which are requests by ICE to hold an arrested immigrant so agents can take custody of them. McFadden said Monday that his office has always "followed the law in notifying ICE,” but it’s up to agents to decide “what they do after that notification.”
A federal immigration crackdown that started in November in Charlotte and spread elsewhere in North Carolina resulted in hundreds of arrests over several days.
Brown has been jailed due to the charges. A federal court ordered last month that he undergo a psychiatric examination to determine whether his legal case can proceed. A similar exam was ordered in state court. Brown’s lawyers for the federal case declined comment. His state court lawyer didn’t respond to emails.
The suspect in the second light-rail attack — identified in federal records as Oscar Gerardo Solorzano-Garcia and in state court as Oscar Solarzano — is from Central America and had been transported out the country twice since 2018 — having been convicted of illegal reentry into the U.S., according to an FBI affidavit.
Solarzano is also jailed, and an attorney representing him in state court didn't respond to emails. There is no lawyer listed in his federal case.
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The story has corrected the district attorney's last name as Merriweather, not Meriweather.