Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska stabbed to death on American train

Authorities have not identified a motive for the attack.

A chilling clip has surfaced on social media platforms capturing moments before Iryna Zarutska, a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee, was  was stabbed to death by a career criminal.

Zarutska fled the devastation of war in Ukraine hoping to build a safer life in America. Weeks later, 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska was brutally stabbed to death on a train by a career criminal. The attack was caught on surveillance camera.

The video shows Zarutska sitting on the seat of the light rail, which she boarded at 9:46 PM on August 22. At first, she can be seen scrolling on her phone. Minutes later, the accused, sitting right behind her seat, stands up, pulls out a folding knife, and stabs her three times. The man, identified as 34-year-old Decarlos Brown Jr, then walks through the rail car and stands near the door and gets off at the next stop.

The footage, made public Friday by the Charlotte Area Transit System, captures the final moments before Ms Zarutska was ambushed on the Lynx Blue Line before 10 pm on August 22 in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Dressed in her pizzeria uniform, Ms Zarutska boarded the light rail at 9:46 pm and sat down, scrolling on her phone. Behind her, 34-year-old Decarlos Brown Jr waited. Four minutes later, he pulled out a folding knife and lunged forward, stabbing her three times, at least once in the neck, police said.

Court records show Brown has an extensive criminal history dating back to 2011, including arrests for larceny, robbery with a dangerous weapon and communicating threats. He previously served five years in prison for robbery with a deadly weapon, according to WSOC-TV.

In January, Brown was arrested for misusing 911 after what police described as a bizarre welfare check. At the time, he claimed a "man-made" material inside his body was controlling him as he ate, walked and talked, according to an affidavit cited by the Charlotte Observer.