All 10 Republican members of North Carolina’s congressional delegation are demanding the removal of a state magistrate judge who released a violent repeat offender now accused of stabbing a young Ukrainian refugee to death on a Charlotte light rail train.
In a letter first obtained by Fox News Digital, the lawmakers called for formal proceedings against Magistrate Judge Teresa Stokes, citing her decision earlier this year to release 31-year-old Decarlos Brown “based solely on his ‘written promise’ to appear for a future court date.”
Brown is now charged with the Aug. 22 fatal stabbing of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska, who fled Ukraine in 2022 after Russia’s invasion. Surveillance footage showed the young woman sitting on the Lynx Blue Line when Brown, seated behind her, suddenly attacked. Authorities said the assault appeared unprovoked.
The Republicans, led by Rep. Tim Moore (R-N.C.), argued that Stokes’ earlier ruling ignored Brown’s extensive criminal history, which included at least 14 prior arrests for serious offenses. Court records list charges ranging from possession of a firearm by a felon to robbery with a dangerous weapon and physical assault of his sister.