Relatives of 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Irina Zarutskaya, who was killed in the United States, filed a lawsuit against the city of Charlotte, accusing the authorities of negligent behavior in collecting fares on the tram where the crime took place, as well as a number of other safety violations. The complaint was filed on behalf of Zarutskaya's uncle, Scott Haskell, who was appointed executor of her estate.
Zarutskaya was killed on a tram in Charlotte, North Carolina on August 22, 2025. As the investigation established on the basis of recordings from surveillance cameras, the girl was stabbed to death by DeCarlos Brown, who was sitting behind her, who had previously been arrested more than a dozen times for various offenses. He was released shortly before the tragedy on his own recognizance. In the Zarutskaya case, he avoided trial while undergoing psychiatric treatment.
Zarutskaya’s death caused a wide public outcry, and therefore the North Carolina authorities passed a law in honor of the Ukrainian woman that prohibited the release of those arrested on non-cash bail.
As highlighted in Haskell's lawsuit, Brown traveled on the Blue Line streetcar without paying for the fare, and the contractor responsible for security in the CATS transport network had 11 armed security guards on its staff instead of the stated 39. The security company is listed in the lawsuit as a second defendant.
According to the lawyers of the Zarutskaya family, the city authorities last held a tender for armed and unarmed security of the transport system in 2022. The contracts were awarded to Strategic Security Corporation (SSC) and Professional Security Service (PSS), respectively.
In 2024, the former's contract was unilaterally terminated by the city due to “failure to meet certain requirements,” and the latter officially took over both areas of security without a new tender, the lawsuit says.
“Defendants knew that violent crimes regularly occurred on and around the Blue Line, yet failed to implement any adequate and accessible safety measures, such as fare enforcement, barriers, sufficient personnel, effective security deployment and monitoring, and warning passengers of the dangers,” the lawsuit alleges.
According to the plaintiffs, negligence on the part of the city and its contractor “directly led to the unjustifiable death of Irina Zarutskaya.” In this regard, the relatives demanded compensation for medical expenses, funeral expenses, and also compensation for moral damage caused – both to the deceased and to her relatives, who were deprived of “support and care.” The text indicates an amount of at least $25,000.
Zarutskaya's family lawyer, Lauren Newton, noted in a comment to the local WBTV channel that the authorities could not have been unaware of the problem.
“Violent Crimes [в транспортной сети] were completely predictable. Attacks on CATS workers were the main reason why no one controlled the payment of travel,” the lawyer emphasized.
