Charlotte, North Carolina, September 26, 2025
Photo: easterndiocese.org
Hundreds gathered Monday evening at the East/West Boulevard Light Rail Station in Charlotte, North Carolina, for a candlelight vigil organized by the Mecklenburg County Republican Party to honor the memory of Iryna Zarutska, the 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee who was fatally stabbed on the city’s light rail system last month.
In a press release from its chairman, the Republican organization thanked Orthodox Christian parishes for their participation in the memorial, including St. Simon Serbian Orthodox Church and Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral, as well as West Blvd Ministries, New Hope Church, and Arlington Baptist Church.
Fr. Srebrenko Vidakovich, rector of St. Simeon Church, was among those who spoke at the vigil [see his words below].
“The community’s presence was a profound demonstration of love, grief, and determination to bring lasting change,” the party stated in a press release.
Following the start of the war in Ukraine, Zarutska’s family lived in a bomb shelter for months before she immigrated to the United States in 2022 with her mother, sister, and younger brother. Her father remained in Ukraine due to laws preventing men aged 18-60 from leaving the country. In North Carolina, Zarutska worked at Zepeddie's Pizzeria while attending Rowan-Cabarrus Community College, pursuing her dream of becoming a veterinary assistant.
She was murdered on August 22, around 9:45 p.m. as she was returning home from her shift at the pizzeria. Surveillance footage shows her boarding the Lynx Blue Line train. She sat in front of 34-year-old Decarlos Brown Jr., who after a few minutes pulled out a knife and fatally stabbed her three times without provocation. Brown has an extensive criminal history dating back to 2007 with 14 prior arrests, including convictions for armed robbery, larceny, and breaking and entering. His mother told media outlets that her son has been diagnosed with schizophrenia and was homeless at the time.
“This tragedy must be a turning point,” said James Bowers, Minister and Republican Candidate for Charlotte City Council District 3. “The people of Charlotte are united... Her memory must live on, and her death must bring real change.”
Brown has been charged with first-degree murder in state court and federally with committing an act causing death on a mass transportation system, both of which could make him eligible for the death penalty.
In response to Zarutska’s death, the North Carolina legislature passed “Iryna’s Law” on Tuesday. The Republican-authored criminal justice package limits bail for many crimes, restricts discretion for magistrates and judges in pretrial release decisions, and establishes guidelines for when offenders should undergo mental health evaluations. The House voted 81-31 to approve the measure, which now goes to Democratic Governor Josh Stein for his signature.
The Mecklenburg County Republican Party announced that concerned citizens will gather again on October 22, 2025, marking the 60-day anniversary of Zarutska’s death, for a Local Government Accountability March in uptown Charlotte.
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Photo: twimg.com
Fr. Srebrenko Vidakovich’s speech:
One month after her repose, our hearts still feel the pain of loss, and the emptiness left by her absence is very real. And this tragic loss deeply touches every heart and every soul here present and even wider. And it will take time for these wounds to begin to heal.
Yet as we gather here together in this sorrow overwhelmed by the grief, we also see a beautiful expression of empathy and love among all who are united in this mourning and prayer, standing here side by side with one heart and one soul for our beloved Ina.
Let us remember that even Christ wept at the tomb of his friend Lazarus. He understands our sorrow, yet He did more than weep. He raised Lazarus from the dead, showing that death has been conquered. So even as we cry, we hold hope that we will see our beloved ones who are departed before us again in the Heavenly Kingdom.
In the Gospel of John, with these words, I am the resurrection and the life, the Lord Himself comforts us. When we believe in Christ as our Lord and Savior and the reality of His resurrection, our life does not end at the moment of death. Our beloved departed have passed into a life where there is no pain, no sorrow, and no tears, where God is all joy and all comfort.
Speaking to Romans, Apostle Paul reminds us, For I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. In this truth, we find profound peace. Even in our grief, God’s presence surrounds us and His promises endure forever.
Love for our departed beloved ones does not cease. It continues through our constant prayer, through memory, and through our hope and faith in eternal life. We also turn to the Most Holy Theotokos, the blessed Mother of God, the Virgin Mary, who prays for us and intercedes for us and for all the departed. Just as she stood at the foot of the cross, sharing in the sorrow and the hope of the crucified Christ, she now shares in our sorrow and our prayers and carrying them before her Son Jesus Christ.
May she, together with all the saints and the angels, bring peace, comfort, and rest to the soul of our beloved Irina, heal the wounds of her loved ones and of our hearts and our souls, and strengthen our hope and faith in the promise of resurrection.
When we hear these beautiful words of prayer and “memory eternal,” it is not only a remembrance. It is the truth of eternal life in God’s love. God remembers those he loves, and when God remembers them, they live forever. May Irina’s family and friends know that she is not forgotten, neither by us nor by God, and that we will keep her memory forever in our thoughts, hearts, and in our prayers.
Let us entrust Irina to the mercy of God, to the prayers of the Most Holy Theotokos, and to the intercession of all the saints. May the Lord comfort her family, relatives, friends, and all who mourn, turning this sorrow into quiet trust, into trust in the Risen Christ our Lord, and may He keep us steadfast in faith so that one day we may be reunited with Him and our beloved Irina in His eternal Kingdom. Amen.
On my own behalf and on behalf of my parish congregation and the Eastern American diocese of the Serbian Orthodox Church, I extend the deepest condolences to the family, friends, and all who are grieving the tragic loss of our beloved. May her memory be eternal. Amen.
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