Elon Musk calls Iryna Zarutska 'innocent hardworking woman' who was killed for being a 'White girl'

BOCA CHICA, TEXAS: Elon Musk shared on X a post highlighting the tragic death of Iryna Zarutska.

He described her as an "innocent, hardworking young woman who did nothing wrong" and was killed simply for being a “White girl.”

Death of Iryna Zarutska

Iryna was a 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee living in Charlotte, North Carolina. On August 22, 2025, she boarded a LYNX Blue Line light rail train after finishing her shift at a pizzeria, returning home when the tragedy occurred.

Surveillance video shows that she sat down on the train, apparently engrossed in her phone, before the man behind her pulled out a pocket knife and stabbed her multiple times.

The attack reportedly happened within just minutes of her boarding the train.

Authorities identified the suspect as Decarlos Brown Jr, a 34-year-old man with a long criminal history.

Brown has 14 previous arrests and was freed on cashless bail in January by Magistrate Judge Teresa Stokes with a “written promise” to appear at a future court date.

He was arrested after exiting the train, treated for a hand injury and later charged with first-degree murder under state law. 

Brown, who has been identified as schizophrenic, was indicted last month on charges that could make him eligible for the death penalty.

Iryna’s death stunned the community. She was described by friends and family as a kind, hardworking young woman building a new life in the United States. She was attending community college while working full-time.

Those close to her called the loss “horrific” and criticized what they saw as systemic failures in public transit safety and mental-health oversight.

Elon Musk actively supports Iryna Zarutska’s case

On X, Elon Musk has shared multiple posts about the incident, with many implying that the media would have given it more attention if a white person had harmed a Black victim.

Musk called out national media outlets, including 'The New York Times', criticizing them for not covering the killing as they had in similar cases in the past.

He has also previously defended cases such as that of Daniel Penny, a white man arrested in New York in 2023 after killing an unhoused Black man with mental illness on the subway, a death Penny claimed was an act of self-defense.

Musk posted about the case at least a dozen times over, comparing coverage of Iryna's murder to other high‑profile killings and calling attention to what he described as legacy media lies.

In the wake of public outrage over Iryna’s killing, entrepreneur Eoghan McCabe, co-founder and CEO of a tech company, previously announced that he would offer US$500,000 in grants to artists to paint murals honoring Iryna in prominent locations across US cities.

Shortly after, Elon Musk pledged to "contribute US$1 million" to the effort.

The campaign gained enough backing that organisers reported having funding for nearly 300 murals and outreach to hundreds of artists interested in participating.