(TJV NEWS) The man accused of brutally murdering a young Ukrainian refugee in Charlotte has finally spoken out — and his bizarre explanation is almost certain to anger anyone who hears it.

 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska had fled her war-torn homeland only to meet a tragic end in North Carolina last month. On the night of August 22, police say she was stabbed multiple times at the East/West Boulevard light rail station and later pronounced dead.

🚨BREAKING: Decarlos Brown Jr. speaks from jail for the first time since the brutal murder of Iryna Zarutska.

He claims the government implanted “materials” in his body that made him commit the horrific crime.

“The material. Put it like that. The material using my body. It’s… pic.twitter.com/SxKNqbpNe5

— Benny Johnson (@bennyjohnson) September 10, 2025

Investigators quickly identified 34-year-old Decarlos Brown Jr. as the suspect. He was arrested and charged with first-degree murder. In the days that followed, WBTV obtained shocking surveillance footage of the killing, with additional video surfacing online that depicted an even more horrifying attack.

But what Brown later told his sister during a recorded phone call — obtained by the Daily Mail — adds another disturbing layer. Instead of accepting responsibility, Brown claimed he wasn’t in control of his actions, blaming what he described as “material” placed inside his body by the federal government.

In the recording, his sister pressed him on why he targeted Zarutska, who had only recently come to America from Ukraine. Brown insisted that the “material” acted on its own and lashed out at her.

Brown: “The material in my body stabbed the lady. You know that’s not me.”
Sister: “So she just got stabbed? Out of everyone, why her?”
Brown: “That’s just what happened. Whoever was working the material, they lashed out on her.”

Court documents previously obtained by the Charlotte Observer indicate Brown has a history of mental health struggles. In one affidavit, he reportedly claimed that someone gave him a “man-made” substance that dictated his movements, controlling when he ate, walked, and even spoke.