Corporate media outlets largely ignored the stabbing death of a woman from Ukraine in Charlotte, North Carolina, until Monday morning, when two gave brief mentions, according to a Daily Caller News Foundation review.
Authorities say 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska was stabbed to death on Aug. 22 on a Charlotte light rail train by DeCarlos Brown, a man with a lengthy criminal history. “CBS Mornings” spent about two minutes with a reporter providing facts about Zarutska’s killing, while “CNN News Central” and “CNN This Morning” had brief blurbs about the killing Monday morning, with the latter program focusing on conservative reactions to the release of the video, the DCNF learned through a keyword search of footage archived by Grabien News as of 11:00 a.m. EDT Monday and from social media posts.
Surveillance video shows a homeless ex-con fatally stabbing 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a Charlotte light rail.
Decarlos Brown Jr. has been charged in the stabbing.
Brown has a lengthy rap sheet and previously served 5 years in prison for armed robbery. pic.twitter.com/ruz7kBfbFz
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) September 8, 2025
The incident went viral on social media after authorities released video of the incident on Friday, prompting Axios to post an article on Monday claiming “MAGA influencers” were using the killing to push a narrative about crime getting worse. Tesla CEO Elon Musk made multiple posts and also reposted other users on X who discussed the killing and the apparent lack of coverage by corporate outlets.
The Axios story prompted a backlash on social media from those who had commented about the absence of coverage from corporate media, contrasting that to how many of the outlets covered the death of Jordan Neely, who died after being restrained by 24-year-old Daniel Penny, a Marine Corps veteran, on May 1, 2023.
ABC, CNN, NBC, MSNBC, and CBS did not immediately respond to requests for comment from the DCNF.
President Donald Trump announced a federal takeover of Washington, D.C.’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) to combat crime in the district on Aug. 11, shortly after Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) staffer Edward Coristine, known by the moniker “Big Balls,” was injured when he intervened to stop a carjacking.
Since Trump launched the crackdown in the nation’s capital, 2,120 arrests have been made and 214 guns have been seized, according to a Monday post on X by Attorney General Pam Bondi.
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