RedState reported on Wednesday on the latest developments in the Iryna Zarutska case, where we learned that the 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee's alleged killer, repeat offender DeCarlos Brown, Jr., had undergone a competency evaluation at Central Regional Hospital, one of three state-run mental hospitals in North Carolina, last winter, and clinicians there reported he was "incapable to proceed" on the state murder charge.
We learned this via a motion filed by his defense attorney on April 7th seeking to continue a "critical stage" hearing, currently scheduled for April 30th, for 180 days.
While frustrating, it's important to note, as we did, that a judge has yet to rule on any of this. Further, Brown remains in federal custody on the federal charges, as the US Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina noted in response to the news of the motion being filed by the defense attorney:
DeCarlos Brown is in federal custody on a federal indictment. The state proceedings, including any competency finding in those proceedings, are completely separate. https://t.co/yomEpaUPn4
— U.S. Attorney WDNC (@USAO_WDNC) April 8, 2026
SEE ALSO: Troubling Allegations Against Roy Cooper Related to Zarutska Case Rock North Carolina Senate Race
The reason it's important to reemphasize all of this is that, unfortunately, in the mad crush to get this story out there on Wednesday, a lot of misinformation spread like wildfire on social media, including among influencers - some of whom are on "our side," with some of the tweets with the incomplete or erroneous information getting tens of thousands of retweets.
One of the things falsely insinuated or outright claimed was that Brown being deemed "incapable to proceed" meant he'd never have to face trial. Obviously, the more complete story, as we noted in our first story on this development and above, is that the judge hasn't even held a hearing on the motion, let alone ruled.
And even if they do end up delaying the next hearing for six months, that still doesn't mean he'll never be tried in court on the state charge. The state could opt to request treatment that potentially could lead to Brown being capable of standing trial at the state level, but it isn't something they can do while he's still being held by the feds:
The motion notes that the state could request treatment aimed at restoring Brown’s capacity, but that cannot happen while he remains in federal custody. The document says prosecutors agreed with that assessment.
Something else put out there that needs correcting is the suggestion that this was done by a judge. In response, this has led many to talk about doing a "mass impeachment" of judges.
Now, I get the frustration with activist judges. It's a serious problem in this country, and one that in some cases has resulted in repeat offenders being let back on the street to victimize more innocent people.
In fact, Magistrate Judge Teresa Stokes, who released DeCarlos Brown, Jr. in January 2025 based on a "written promise" to return for his next court hearing in an unrelated case, has been blamed in part by some North Carolina lawmakers at the state level and in Congress for what happened to Zarutska seven months later on the Charlotte light rail system, where she was stabbed to death on her way home from work.
Rep. Tim Moore (NC-14) was among several Republican NC members of Congress who called for her removal, but that has not happened.
But in this particular instance, a judge was not the one who did the evaluation for competency. This was done by a psychiatric hospital that specifically deals with these types of cases.
RedState Managing Editor Jennifer Van Laar, who worked in North Carolina's criminal courts for nearly two decades, shared additional details on X Thursday night from a legal perspective regarding what actually happened this week in the case:
Brown is facing both state & fed murder charges, and a Rule 24 hearing in the state case (where the DA announces whether they'll pursue the death penalty or not) is scheduled for April 30.
Both the DA and defense counsel asked the judge to continue that hearing for 180 days bc Brown is in federal custody and the Rule 24 hearing, a "critical stage" hearing, can't be conducted while Brown is in federal custody.
In addition, in Dec 2025 a psychiatrist at a state mental hospital determined Brown was "incapable to proceed," meaning he is incapable of understanding the proceedings against him or assisting in his defense - if proceedings were to continue despite that finding, his right to a fair trial/due process would be violated.
Before state proceedings can continue, Brown's competency has to be restored, which also can't be done while he's in federal custody.
The NC judge hasn't accepted the psychiatrist's report yet or ruled on the motion to continue the Rule 24 hearing.
The information that is in this post was out there yesterday. We wrote about it accurately in our initial write-up. But some in Influencer World did not, and it led to people panicking and freaking out for no reason. Respectfully, people need to do better.
I get that people are not just hungry for more information on this case, but that they're also hungry for justice. We all are. But the facts here are important, and influencers, commentators, writers, and anyone else responsible for informing the public have an obligation to get it right to the best of their ability.
Doing anything less is not just a disservice to the public, it is - most importantly - a disservice to the victims and their grieving families.
Decarlos Brown "incapable to proceed" by johncoxc
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