Iryna Zarutska was not buried in Ukraine after Charlotte stabbing; family's urgent plea revealed
Iryna Zarutska, the Ukrainian refugee who was fatally stabbed in a Charlotte train last month, was not buried in Ukraine.
Iryna Zarutska, the Ukrainian refugee who was fatally stabbed in a Charlotte train last month, was not buried in Ukraine. Her last rites and a funeral were held in North Carolina despite the Ukrainian embassy's request. On Tuesday, officials revealed that it was the 23-year-old's family who had made the request, saying she ‘loved America’.
US Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina Russ Ferguson and FBI agent James Barnacle Jr in a media briefing on Tuesday, said that the Ukrainian embassy offered help to bring Zarutska's body back to her homeland. But her mother and uncle wanted her to remain in the US.
“She loved America. We’re going to bury her here,” the family told Barnacle. Ferguson added that the college graduate worked at a pizza restaurant, took care of animals, helped at a senior citizen center, and rode that same train often.
“The first day she was allowed to work, she got a work permit here, she got a job the very first day,” he said.
Iryna Zarutska's family's urgent plea
Meanwhile, the Zarutska family asked social media users and others to refrain from sharing the video of her attack, which took place in August. “The family is urging the public and media to respect Iryna’s dignity and their grief by not reposting or circulating the footage of her killing,” they said, as per reports.
The footage showed DeCarlos Brown Jr slashing Zarutska in her neck.
The Justice Department on Tuesday charged the suspect with a federal crime that could carry the death penalty.
“Iryna Zarutska was a young woman living the American dream — her horrific murder is a direct result of failed soft-on-crime policies that put criminals before innocent people,” said Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. “We will seek the maximum penalty for this unforgivable act of violence — he will never again see the light of day as a free man."
