A North Carolina magistrate judge is under fire for allowing a schizophrenic, repeat offender to walk free without bond, seven months before he fatally stabbed a Ukrainian refugee on a Charlotte light rail train in an unprovoked attack that has horrified the community.
Magistrate Judge Teresa Stokes released DeCarlos Brown Jr., 34, on Jan. 21 on a “written promise to appear” after he was arrested on charges of misusing the 911 system during a police welfare check. Brown, who is homeless and diagnosed with schizophrenia, told officers he believed “man-made” material was implanted in his body, controlling his movements. He had been arrested many times previously.
When officers advised him it was a medical matter and left, Brown became agitated and called 911 again, prompting officers to arrest and charge him with a Class 1 misdemeanor.
Despite his violent criminal history, mental illness, and lack of a fixed address, Stokes let him go with no bond required.
A defendant worthy of intense scrutiny
On Aug. 22, police say Brown boarded a Charlotte Area Transit System train without paying fare and stabbed 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska in the neck as she sat alone. She died on the scene. Her family said she had fled war-torn Ukraine in search of a safer life and a new beginning in the United States.
Even Brown’s mother has said the court system failed the community by releasing her son, telling reporters that he had been under psychiatric monitoring after a schizophrenia diagnosis in 2014 and became so aggressive she had to remove him from her home.
Brown’s criminal record includes an armed robbery conviction in 2014, an assault on his sister in 2021, and multiple other arrests. Critics have blasted Judge Stokes for ignoring his past and releasing him despite clear warning signs.
Stokes, appointed and supervised by the chief district judge in Mecklenburg County, is not a licensed attorney or a member of the North Carolina State Bar, although magistrates in the state are not required to be. Under law, magistrates may qualify with a four-year college degree or a two-year associate degree and four years of experience in a related field.
A judge with a past in criminal and addiction recovery activism
In the days following the killing, social media users flooded the Facebook page of Second Chance Services Unlimited, a Charlotte mental health provider, alleging Stokes worked there. The organization responded by stating:
“This has nothing to do with us. This is a Behavioral health clinic helping people in the community with substance abuse and mental health issues. Please stop posting on this page. We have nothing to do with the law.”
A representative for the Second Chance hung up the phone when asked by the Washington Examiner whether Stokes had worked there since 2023. The group’s website is also not currently online, and it’s unclear when the page was removed. Stokes’s name appears on a now-deleted Bold.Pro profile listing her as director of operations and a magistrate, but that listed role could not be confirmed independently.
What is verifiable is that Stokes previously co-founded a separate mental health help venture called Pinnacle Recovery Services in 2015, a Michigan-based nonprofit organization that provided housing and recovery services to underserved individuals, according to her LinkedIn account and a previous news report. In 2021, she helped open Wing Heaven Sports Haven, a sober sports bar in Lansing, after losing both a brother and a nephew to overdose, according to a local Fox affiliate.
Legal experts who spoke to the Washington Examiner said that even absent verified current ties to Second Chance, Stokes’s advocacy background raises serious concerns about the appearance of conflicts when ruling on mental health-related cases.
Online critics, meanwhile, are calling for an investigation into whether Stokes benefited from her jurisprudence, such as releasing Brown with no bond requirement despite his well-documented criminal history.
Magistrate Judge Teresa Stokes freed DeCarlos Brown Jr., a 14-time criminal who went on to butcher Iryna Zarutska. Stokes is also listed as the Director of Operations at Second Chance Services, a Charlotte clinic for mental health and addiction.
That is not just a side job. It… pic.twitter.com/1MNZCd0L8N
— Ian Miles Cheong (@stillgray) September 8, 2025
Brown remained out of custody even after his public defender raised competency concerns in July. Judge Roy Wiggins ordered a forensic evaluation, but Brown was not detained, and the evaluation was never completed. Following Zarutska’s murder, a different judge denied Brown bond and ordered a new competency review.
Zack Smith, a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation’s Meese Center, told the Washington Examiner that “based on Brown’s criminal history and background, it’s clear she did not adequately take into account the dangerousness he would pose to the community.”
“Certainly more consideration should have been given to detaining him while legal proceedings played out. We’ve seen the tragic results firsthand,” Smith added.
What are local officials saying?
Spencer Merriweather, the Mecklenburg County district attorney, has not spoken about Brown’s case directly, but acknowledged systemic failures in handling mentally ill offenders. He told Axios that North Carolina’s high bar for involuntary commitments and a shortage of psychiatric beds leave judges and prosecutors with few tools. WFAE reported last year that patients in emergency rooms wait an average of 16 days for placement in a state hospital.
Merriweather also said misdemeanor charges, such as fare evasion, could be used to flag individuals for mental health intervention. Brown is believed to have skipped paying for his train ride before carrying out the attack.
In 2023, the Pretrial Integrity Act shifted authority for certain violent offenses from magistrates to judges. But low-level charges such as Brown’s 911 misuse remained in magistrates’ hands.
The district attorney’s office is under-resourced, with 85 prosecutors managing nearly 300 homicide cases. Lawmakers have discussed expanding staffing, but funding remains stalled.
Republicans tighten screws against Democratic soft-on-crime messaging
From a data perspective, FBI records show Charlotte is not uniquely violent. In 2024, the bureau recorded 7,355 violent crimes, or 733 per 100,000 residents, with 11 major cities reporting higher rates. The city logged 109 murders, placing it below 12 others.
Still, Republicans have used the latest crime controversy to blast former Gov. Roy Cooper (D-NC), accusing him of promoting soft-on-crime policies. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) claimed Cooper’s administration prioritized criminals over public safety.
During an interview with Newsmax on Monday, RNC adviser Danielle Alvarez pointed to Cooper’s 2024 executive order to “reimagine” public safety and the early release of 3,000 inmates as signs of deeper policy failure.
Meanwhile, Rep. Randy Fine (R-FL) said Monday he plans to introduce legislation to hold judges accountable for releasing violent repeat offenders. If his legislation eventually passes, it’s unclear whether it would affect state-level prosecutions. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) also introduced legislation that seeks to codify President Donald Trump’s executive order ending cashless bail nationwide.
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Despite his extensive record of getting off the hook, Brown will remain in custody pending his trial and future court dates surrounding the murder of Zarutska last month.
The Washington Examiner contacted Stokes but did not receive a response.
