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One year after Iryna Zarutska’s death on a Charlotte light-rail train, her family has initiated legal action against the city of Charlotte, North Carolina and its security services provider, claiming negligent operations created dangerous conditions aboard the transit system. The wrongful-death complaint filed against the City of Charlotte and Professional Police Services Inc.—operating as Professional Security Services, or PSS—centers on what the family’s legal team characterizes as longstanding institutional deficiencies that rendered the public transportation network unsafe.
According to the lawsuit, no armed security personnel were stationed aboard the Lynx Blue Line train on August 22, 2025, when Zarutska sustained fatal stab wounds. The complaint contends that PSS breached its contractual obligations by maintaining inadequate staffing levels, deploying only 183 of the 219 authorized security positions and just 11 armed guards despite the contract permitting up to 39. Attorney Lauren Newton, representing Zarutska’s family, argued these shortfalls were directly responsible for the victim’s death.
The lawsuit further alleges that fare enforcement mechanisms were non-existent, allowing Decarlos Brown Jr., the accused assailant, to board the train without paying. The complaint states no physical barriers prevented unauthorized access to the light-rail system, creating vulnerability to criminal activity that the city and PSS should have anticipated. Newton emphasized that basic safety protocols had been systematically neglected across the CATS system for years.
The suit seeks damages exceeding $25,000 and punitive measures against PSS, though not against Charlotte. The family’s legal representatives contend that violent crime on the Blue Line and its stops was entirely foreseeable given prior criminal incidents at the location. Neither PSS nor the City of Charlotte has responded to requests for comment regarding the active litigation.
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