The man accused of has a lengthy criminal history — and so do several members of his family, according to law enforcement records.
, 34, was identified as the suspect who killed . He was initially charged with first-degree murder in connection to the deadly attack, which occurred on a train in August.
Brown also has a total of .
Files from the show his sister, 33-year-old Tracey Vontrea Brown, was arrested twice in 2024. In January of that year, she was arrested for shoplifting, while she was charged with misdemeanor larceny and felony conspiracy in May 2024, according to the records.
said records also show she was arrested for vehicle theft and resisting public officers.
Documents from the dating back to 2014 note that Brown’s older brother, Stacey Dejon Brown, was sentenced to 27 to 36 years in prison for the 2012 murder of Robert Heym, 65.
At the time, the charges included the following:
Second-degree murder
Two counts of robbery with a dangerous weapon
Assault with a deadly weapon with intent to kill
Breaking or entering a motor vehicle
The Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office said the charges stemmed from three incidents, with the first taking place in July 2012 when Brown and a co-defendant used bricks to break into vehicles in a parking garage.
Then, in October 2012, Brown and two other men robbed a man in Charlotte, the documents show.
Brown held the victim at gunpoint with a shotgun while Townsend took the victim’s belongings. When the victim ran, Brown shot him in the back. The victim suffered serious injuries but survived,” Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office said.
The day after the shooting, the agency said Brown and another man confronted Heym in Charlotte as Heym was walking home from work. The agency said they stole Heym’s cellphone.
When Mr. Heym resisted, Brown shot him at close range. Mr. Heym died at the scene,” the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office said.
The , meanwhile, noted that their father, Decarlos Brown, Sr., is no stranger to the law. He was arrested for a variety of crimes, the media outlet noted, including breaking and entering, felony conspiracy, larceny, and possession of a weapon on a university campus.
As for the case involving Zarutska, a refugee who fled a war-torn Ukraine, the Department of Justice previously announced it filed a criminal complaint charging Brown Jr. with a federal crime.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said Brown was charged with one count of committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system.
Video from the scene of the crime appears to show the moments Zarutska boarded the train before she was killed.
Authorities said the man sitting behind her — who was later identified as Brown Jr. — pulled out a pocket knife ahead of the attack.
Surveillance video shows him open that pocket knife and stab her three times in the neck,” U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson said, adding that the charge is an appropriate one because these types of crimes are making people afraid to ride the train. “The federal government is going to save our city from that.”
He also said the train “has become a mobile homeless shelter,” with multiple reports noting the suspect is homeless.
No one should sit in fear on our light rail,” Ferguson said, adding that “this act of violence affects the confidence of all those who rely on public transportation to commute to work and go about their daily business, and restoring that confidence is our mission.”
According to a that was set up to help Zarutska’s loved ones with funeral expenses, she recently arrived in the U.S. seeking safety from the Russia-Ukraine war. Authorities said she escaped a bomb shelter before she made her way to North Carolina — only to be violently murdered.
This brutal attack on an innocent woman simply trying to get to her destination is an attack on the American way of life,” Ferguson said. “Of course, crimes like this affect the victim the most -Iryna deserves justice, and we will bring justice to her and her family. But crimes like this also affect everyone who relies on mass transportation to get to and from work and go about their daily lives, and federal charges are necessary to protect the public and ensure confidence in our transportation systems.”
Considering Brown’s history with police, the president questioned why he was on the train instead of behind bars.
We cannot allow a depraved criminal element of violent repeat offenders to continue spreading destruction and death throughout our country,” Trump said in a video the White House shared Tuesday. “We have to respond with force and strength. We have to be vicious, just like they are. It’s the only thing they understand.”
noted that she emigrated from Ukraine with her mother, sister, and brother to escape the war, and “quickly embraced her new life” in the U.S.
If convicted, Brown faces a maximum statutory sentence of life in prison or the death penalty.