Justice for Iryna Zarutska: How a Brutal Murder Sparked a Rare Legal Turning Point in North Carolina
The murder of 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska shook a community, outraged the public, and led to a groundbreaking legal response in North Carolina — one that could result in her killer facing the death penalty through a method almost unheard of in modern times.
Iryna, who had escaped the horrors of war in Ukraine, hoped to find peace and safety in the United States. Instead, her life was cut tragically short in a brutal and senseless act of violence — not in some dark alley, but in broad daylight, on public transportation, surrounded by people who could only watch in horror.