White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt speaks alongside a photo of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, who was allegedly killed by Decarlos Brown Jr on a light rail train in Charlotte, North Carolina, during a press briefing in the Brady Press Briefing Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., on Sept. 9, 2025. (Saul Loeb – AFP / Getty Images)
By Samuel Short November 29, 2025 at 12:46pm
The boyfriend of the late Ukrainian refugee stabbed to death in Charlotte, North Carolina, is speaking out after another young woman was lit on fire by a deranged man now charged with terrorism for a crime committed in Chicago, Illinois.
Iryna Zarutska, 23, was stabbed to death on Aug. 22 while riding public transit. Her alleged attacker, 34-year-old Decarlos Brown Jr., had a history of criminal offenses and was severely mentally ill.
He had 14 prior arrests, according to the New York Post. In January, police did a wellness check, with body camera footage showing Brown telling police that “man-made material” was controlling his body.
He was charged with first-degree murder. The crime created an uproar as the obvious question was how this man was walking free among the general public with a long criminal record.
Fast-forward to Nov. 17, when 26-year-old Bethany MaGee was set on fire while riding a train in Chicago. The alleged attacker is 50-year-old Lawrence Reed. CWB Chicago reports she remains in critical condition as her family has set up a GoFundMe.
Live Mint reported Reed was on pretrial release at the time of the crime for an aggravated battery charge. He has over 70 prior arrests.
According to the New York Post, Zarutska’s boyfriend, Stanislav Nikulytsia, highlighted that reality in an Instagram post about MaGee, slamming the judge who let Reed walk free after an extensive criminal history.
“72 prior arrests sounds like a joke. I guess 72 times was not enough to understand who he is,” he wrote on his Instagram story. “Why they always wait for them to do something like that to start doing something to prevent it.”
You don’t need to have legal expertise to agree with Nikulytsia’s assessment.
Someone with a criminal record so long a book could be written about it doesn’t deserve to live in the civilized world.
According to ABC News, Reed has 15 convictions to his name, including criminal damage to government property, a drug charge, and an incident of arson. On the latter, Reed lit a government building on fire in Chicago.
For his latest crime, he remains in custody, with the charge being committing a terrorist attack against a mass transportation system.
This is not someone who commits petty crimes. This is a violent criminal who has engaged in the same methods he allegedly used on Nov. 17.
Cook County Judge Teresa Molina-Gonzalez let Reed go with electronic monitoring in August for the battery charge despite warnings from the prosecution. Prosecutor Jerrilyn Gumila, according to another report by the New York Post, commented, “It could not protect the victim or the community from another vicious, random, and spontaneous attacks.”
This was an incredibly accurate assessment of what unfolded.
Left-wing activist judges like Molina-Gonzalez only see Reed as a victim of the system, not a moral agent to be held accountable for his actions.
This dangerous outlook only gets innocent people hurt or killed.
Sam Short is an Instructor of History with Motlow State Community College in Smyrna, Tennessee. He holds a BA in History from Middle Tennessee State University and an MA in History from University College London. The views expressed in his articles are his own and do not reflect the views or opinions of Motlow State Community College.
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