NC GOP looking at bail laws and restarting death penalty after Charlotte stabbing
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Charlotte light rail train stabbing
A 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee, Iryna Zarutska, was fatally stabbed on Aug. 22 on the light rail line in Charlotte’s South End. 34-year-old DeCarlos Brown Jr., who has a reported history of mental health issues, is charged in the killing. Zarutska’s death has received national attention, with public comments from President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and Charlotte officials.
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Republican leaders of the North Carolina General Assembly said Thursday they would introduce wide-ranging legislation later this month in the wake of the fatal stabbing of a 23-year-old woman on the Charlotte light rail last month.
Among other things, GOP lawmakers are looking at ways to require secured bonds for violent criminals, and restart the death penalty in North Carolina after a 19-year pause on executions in the state due to ongoing legal challenges, House Speaker Destin Hall and Senate leader Phil Berger said during a news conference at the Legislative Building.
Hall said that in the case of DeCarlos Brown Jr., the 34-year-old who has been charged by state and federal prosecutors in the killing of Iryna Zarutska on Aug. 22, it shouldn’t have been an option for a magistrate in Mecklenburg County to release Brown when he was arrested in January on a written promise to appear.
“If that had happened here, then most likely the victim in Charlotte would still be alive today,” Hall said.
Secured bonds, death penalty, governor task forces on table
In particular, Hall singled out Brown’s prior conviction for armed robbery and five-year stint in state prison. He said that if someone coming before a magistrate has a violent felony in their criminal record, they should be required to post a secured bond to be eligible for pre-trial release. Secured bonds require paying a specified amount in the form of bail before release.
Brown was arrested twice in 2024 for misusing 911. In January, he was arrested and charged with that offense again when he asked police to investigate a “man-made” material he said controlled when he ate, walked, and talked. Court records show that Magistrate Teresa Stokes released Brown on Jan. 19, the same day he was arrested, on a written promise to appear, the Charlotte Observer previously reported.
The charge was still pending against Brown when he boarded the light rail trail on Aug. 22. Less than a month earlier, a judge had ordered his mental capacity to be evaluated.
Berger, meanwhile, said he was “personally” looking at ways lawmakers could act to restart the death penalty. Berger and other GOP leaders have in the past said executions should be back on the table. A few House Republicans proposed a bill earlier this year to authorize new methods of execution with the goal of restarting them, but that bill didn’t move forward.
The last time North Carolina carried out an execution was 2006, when Samuel Flippen was put to death for murdering his 2-year-old stepdaughter.
Hall and Berger were joined at Thursday’s news conference by Michael Whatley, the former chairman of the N.C. Republican Party and Republican National Committee who is running for U.S. Senate. Whatley has been endorsed by Trump in next year’s election.
Berger used the news conference at the Legislative Building to attack the likely Democratic nominee in the Senate election, former Gov. Roy Cooper. He said lawmakers should ban future task forces like the Task Force for Racial Equity in Criminal Justice started by Cooper in 2020 in the wake of George Floyd protests.
“Here’s the thing: policing doesn’t need to be reimagined. It needs to be respected. It needs to be funded,” Berger said.
“Our hard working law enforcement officers are all too often villainized just for doing their jobs, keeping us safe. It’s time for that to end. If we do not respect those who keep us safe, and run towards danger, then we will descend into chaos.”
Legislation still being written, action Sept. 22
Video of the fatal stabbing of Zarutska, a Ukrainian refugee who came to the United States to flee her war-torn country, was released by local authorities last week, generating nationwide outrage and renewing a debate about crime and public safety.
Much of the debate has focused on the criminal history and interactions with law enforcement and the legal system of Brown, the suspect who was arrested and charged in the killing of Zarutska on the Lynx Blue Line on the night of Aug. 22.
After federal prosecutors charged Brown earlier this week, President Donald Trump called for Brown to receive a quick trial and be sentenced to death.
Hall and Berger said GOP chairs of the Judiciary committees were still working on the bill, which they expect to unveil during the week of Sept. 22, when lawmakers are scheduled to return to Raleigh for a few days of session. The bill could be passed that week.
Hall said he spoke with Democratic Gov. Josh Stein on Wednesday about the proposal Republicans are working on, and said he was hopeful that the bill that is put together will receive bipartisan support. He left the door open to potentially running the legislation as a local bill, which can’t be vetoed, if it looks like it won’t have Stein’s support, in the interest of enacting it quickly.
Hall’s office previously told The Charlotte Observer that he was exploring “potential legislative action” in two areas: pre-trial release, and holding magistrates accountable if they release offenders without a thorough review of their history.
Democratic legislative leaders, meanwhile, issued a statement on Thursday saying that they are ready to work with Republicans “if we are serious about real solutions.”
Senate Minority Leader Sydney Batch said Democrats have over the years offered a number of bills and amendments to invest more money in public safety and mental health, but those efforts haven’t been taken up by the GOP.
And House Minority Leader Robert Reives said lawmakers should “be working toward a future where our children and their children see these senseless acts of violence as a distant memory of the past.”
Reives was also critical of Berger and Hall’s decision to include Whatley in Thursday’s legislative news conference.
“Our time can be spent on political campaigns or it can be spent on legislating. In this building we cannot do both at the same time,” Reives said. “The press conference today used state taxpayer resources to promote a political candidate when it was billed as a legislative announcement. The NCGOP headquarters is five minutes away and a far more appropriate venue for overt politicking.”
Julia Coin contributed to this report.
This story was originally published September 11, 2025 at 1:16 PM with the headline "NC GOP looking at bail laws and restarting death penalty after Charlotte stabbing."
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