Chilling bodycam footage has surfaced, revealing a disturbing account from months before a tragic murder on a Charlotte light rail. Decarlos Brown Jr., now accused in the stabbing death of Iryna Zarutska, contacted 911 himself, claiming a mysterious “man-made material” had infiltrated his body and was seizing control.
The January footage shows Brown, visibly distressed, explaining to responding officers that this substance was implanted without his consent. He insisted it wasn’t a mental health issue, but a physical invasion dictating his actions – even controlling his appetite. He pleaded with them to investigate, frustrated by the lack of medical tests capable of detecting what he described.
Brown recounted waking up disoriented, finding himself on the ground with no memory of how he got there. He felt certain someone had deliberately altered his body, a claim he repeated with unwavering conviction. The officers questioned if he believed someone was *inside* him, controlling his movements.
During the nearly half-hour encounter, officers suggested a hospital evaluation, but Brown vehemently rejected the idea of a psychiatric diagnosis. He asserted his mental clarity, stating, “I’m mentally perfect,” while maintaining the external force was the true problem. He’d already been misdiagnosed with schizophrenia, he claimed, and doctors were simply wrong.
Despite Brown’s increasingly frantic pleas and bizarre claims, officers determined they lacked grounds for an involuntary commitment. He hadn’t expressed any intent to harm himself or others, a critical threshold for intervention. However, his repeated 911 calls led to an arrest for misuse of the emergency system.
The released footage takes on a haunting resonance in light of the August stabbing of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska, an attack authorities have labeled unprovoked. The incident occurred on the LYNX Blue Line, casting a dark shadow over the city’s public transit system.
Records reveal a troubling history for Brown, extending far beyond this unsettling 911 call. He has a lengthy criminal record, including convictions for larceny, breaking and entering, and armed robbery. He previously served a five-year prison sentence, beginning in 2015, painting a picture of a man with a pattern of escalating offenses.
The bodycam footage now raises unsettling questions about the events leading up to Zarutska’s death and the missed opportunities to potentially intervene. It offers a glimpse into Brown’s state of mind months before the tragedy, a state he described as being utterly controlled by an unknown force.
