Haunting Final Moments: Iryna Zarutska’s Watch Glances and a Shadowy Figure in Train Surveillance Footage
A chilling new revelation has emerged in the ongoing investigation into the brutal murder of Iryna Zarutska, the 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee stabbed to death on Charlotte’s Lynx Blue Line on August 22, 2025. Enhanced surveillance footage from Carriage 7, released to select media outlets late Friday by the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD), captures Zarutska glancing at her wristwatch precisely three times in the eight minutes before her death at 9:50 p.m. Each glance, timestamped at 9:42 p.m., 9:46 p.m., and 9:48 p.m., reveals subtle shifts in her expression—from distracted calm to furrowed unease to a fleeting, wide-eyed tension. Most unsettling, during the second glance, a blurred figure appears momentarily in the window’s reflection behind her, vanishing as she turns her head. This spectral detail, combined with the previously reported discovery of a cryptic note, a necklace, and a bus token linked to Zarutska, has deepened the mystery surrounding her final moments and reignited public fury over a preventable tragedy.
Iryna Zarutska’s story remains a raw wound for Charlotte and beyond. A Kyiv native who fled Russia’s invasion in 2022, she arrived in the U.S. with dreams of studying veterinary science, working tirelessly at a South End pizzeria to fund her education. Known for her gentle demeanor and sketches of Ukrainian wildflowers, she was a beacon of resilience in a city that promised safety. That promise shattered when Decarlos Dejuan Brown Jr., a 34-year-old with a 14-year history of violent and drug-related offenses, attacked her without warning. Brown, who had been released on a promissory note despite probation violations and documented mental health crises, slashed her throat and stabbed her chest as she sat on the train, headphones in, scrolling her phone. The grainy footage of the attack, first leaked on September 5, showed Zarutska’s futile struggle as passengers hesitated, their delayed 911 calls capturing her final gasps. Brown fled at the next stop, leaving her to die alone.
The newly analyzed footage, enhanced using AI-assisted frame interpolation, zooms in on Zarutska’s last eight minutes with harrowing clarity. At 9:42 p.m., she checks her silver analog watch—a cherished gift from her mother, engraved with “мама” (mama)—her face serene but distracted, lips pursed as if lost in thought. By 9:46 p.m., her second glance shows a tightened jaw, eyes darting briefly to the carriage’s dim corners. It’s here that the window reflection reveals the figure: a shadowy outline, possibly male, looming just over her shoulder for 1.3 seconds before retreating. The third glance, at 9:48 p.m., is the most telling—her brows knit, her mouth parts slightly, and her left hand grips her phone tighter, as if sensing danger. Two minutes later, Brown strikes from behind, the knife’s glint caught on camera as she collapses.
The figure in the reflection has sparked a firestorm of speculation. Forensic analysts, speaking anonymously to WCNC Charlotte, suggest it could be Brown, whose hoodie and erratic pacing were noted in earlier footage segments. “The timing and positioning align,” said one expert, though pixelation hampers definitive identification. Others, including CMPD Detective Maria Ruiz, caution that it might be another passenger or a visual artifact from the train’s flickering lights. “We’re cross-referencing with witness statements and additional angles,” Ruiz said in a Friday briefing. “This isn’t a ghost story—it’s a murder case, and we’re chasing facts.” Yet the image’s ambiguity fuels darker theories, especially in light of the folded note found weeks later under Carriage 7’s seat, bearing Zarutska’s handwriting: “Tell them the truth about 11:47 pm.” That timestamp, nearly two hours after her death, remains unexplained, with theories ranging from a miswritten time to a posthumous message planted by an unknown party.
On X, the footage has detonated, with #IrynaWatch and #ShadowFigure trending by midnight Friday, amassing over 800,000 impressions. A viral clip posted by @Justice4Iryna on October 11, looping the 9:46 p.m. reflection, garnered 2,137 likes and 689 reposts, with users like @CarolinaTruth demanding, “Who was behind her? CMPD, release ALL the tapes!” Another thread by @GhostOfCLT tied the figure to the nine frantic calls Zarutska made to her father, Viktor, in the 24 hours prior, where she hinted at feeling “watched.” “She KNEW something was wrong,” the post read, earning 943 likes. “That shadow wasn’t random—it was her killer stalking her.” Less grounded voices, like @MoonlitMystery7, spun tales of “paranormal warnings,” linking the figure to a supposed “11:47 pm curse,” while @PatriotNC88 baselessly accused a “cover-up” by CATS to hide security lapses, citing budget cuts that slashed armed patrols by 40%.
The watch glances resonate deeply with Zarutska’s family, who see them as a final act of vigilance. Viktor Zarutskyi, speaking via Zoom from Bucha, Ukraine, to NewsNation on October 11, recalled Iryna’s habit of checking her watch during calls. “She was always counting minutes—work, school, home,” he said, voice breaking. “Those looks… she felt something evil coming.” Her mother, Olena, added that the watch was Iryna’s anchor to home, worn daily despite its scratched face. The family, unable to attend her Charlotte burial due to Ukraine’s wartime travel bans, now clings to these glimpses of her final moments, shared via a private CMPD link. “Her face tells a story,” Olena whispered. “She was fighting to live, even then.”
Public outrage, already stoked by Brown’s lenient release by Magistrate Judge Teresa Stokes, has intensified. X users like @RebelYell2025, with 1,204 likes, branded Stokes “the real killer” for freeing Brown despite his rap sheet, which included a 2024 delusional 911 call about “mind-controlling materials.” Federal prosecutors, led by Attorney General Pamela Bondi, have escalated the case, charging Brown under a mass-transit homicide statute that could carry the death penalty. Bondi, in a September 9 statement, called the murder “a preventable betrayal of public trust.” FBI Director Kash Patel, on October 10, vowed to “unearth every detail” of the footage, including the figure’s identity. Meanwhile, Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles announced a $2 million CATS security overhaul, including AI cameras and real-time panic buttons, set to launch by November.
The footage’s emotional weight is undeniable. Advocacy groups, like Mothers Against Transit Violence, have seized on Zarutska’s glances as a rallying cry, planning a October 16 vigil at Scaleybark station with signs reading “Iryna Saw Danger—Why Didn’t We?” On X, @UkrainianCLT shared a heartbreaking montage of her watch checks synced with her father’s call audio, where faint footsteps and a mumbled “hey” hint at a stalker’s presence. The post, with 3,456 likes, pleads: “She looked three times. THREE. How many warnings do we ignore?” Media coverage, however, remains uneven—BBC and Fox News aired segments on the footage, but progressive outlets like MSNBC offered only brief mentions, prompting @TruthSeekerNC to lament, “Iryna’s story doesn’t fit their agenda. Her whiteness makes her invisible.”
As Brown’s competency hearing looms—complicated by his untreated schizophrenia—the footage raises urgent questions. Was the figure Brown, premeditating his attack? Another passenger who saw but didn’t act? Or a trick of light, amplifying a grieving city’s paranoia? The watch glances, paired with the cryptic 11:47 p.m. note, suggest Zarutska sensed her fate. Her final act—checking the time, as if racing against it—echoes the nine calls to her father, each a plea for connection in a world growing colder. For Viktor, watching his daughter’s face shift from hope to dread, the footage is a torment and a call to action. “She looked at her watch to stay grounded,” he said. “Now, I look at her face to keep fighting.”
Charlotte mourns a daughter stolen too soon, her glances a silent alarm that went unheeded. The figure in the reflection, like the truth about 11:47 p.m., remains just out of focus—but its shadow looms large, demanding answers. Iryna Zarutska’s story is no longer just a tragedy; it’s a mirror to our failures, reflecting a society that saw danger but looked away.
