Suspect in Killing of 23-Year-Old Ukrainian Refugee Shares His Motive in Jail Call to Sister

In a quiet Atlanta suburb, a young Ukrainian refugee’s hope for a new life was shattered by a violent act, driven by the haunting delusions of a man lost to mental illness.

In a recorded jail call obtained by local news, 34-year-old Declaros Brown, diagnosed with severe schizophrenia, confessed to his sister, Tracey Brown, why he fatally stabbed 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska on a city bus. He claimed he acted because he believed government agents had embedded trackers in his body, manipulating his actions and making Iryna a threat.

“I cut my arm stabbing her,” he told Tracey, his voice unsteady. “Never met her. Didn’t say a word to her. Scary, right? Why’d I do it for no reason?”

Declaros’s Delusions Unravel in Emotional Call

In the call, Declaros spoke in fragmented bursts, insisting the “trackers” inside him forced the attack. “It wasn’t me,” he said. “The signals in my body—they made me do it.”

Tracey, grappling with her brother’s spiraling mental state, pressed him. “Why her, Declaros? She’s a refugee from Ukraine, escaping war. Why target her?”

He replied, “The trackers picked her. They said she was watching me, reading my thoughts. Whoever’s controlling them, they chose her. Now they gotta find out who’s behind it.”

A Desperate Plan Before the Tragedy

Declaros revealed he’d been heading to a clinic before the attack. “I was gonna tell them about the trackers,” he said. “I wanted them out, to stop the voices.” But his plan never materialized. Iryna, who had fled Ukraine’s conflict for safety in America, was killed on a crowded bus, her dreams extinguished by a man convinced she was part of a conspiracy.

Tracey later shared that Declaros believed Iryna was “inside his head,” monitoring him—a delusion rooted in his untreated illness.

Tracey’s Anguish: A System That Failed

In an interview with local media, Tracey, a part-time grocery clerk in Atlanta, condemned the mental health system that failed her brother and Iryna. “I’m not excusing what he did,” she said, “but the state let him slip through. He begged for help, and they sent him home. You don’t release someone with psychosis like his back into the world.”

She also pointed to their fractured childhood, marked by neglect and years in group homes after being removed from their parents. Despite the separation, Tracey and Declaros stayed bonded, sharing calls and visits. “He wasn’t always like this,” she said. “He needed help, not jail. Now a woman’s gone because no one listened.”

Declaros now faces first-degree murder charges for Iryna’s death, a loss that has left her family and community reeling.

The Attack: A Brutal Scene

Surveillance footage and witness accounts from the Atlanta bus paint a stark picture of unprovoked violence. Iryna, wearing a gray hoodie and earbuds, sat near the front, unaware of Declaros behind her in a blue jacket. Without warning, he drew a knife and stabbed her repeatedly as passengers screamed. Some tried to intervene, but Iryna could not be saved.

Declaros moved to the back of the bus, shedding his jacket. When the bus stopped at Peachtree Station, Atlanta police arrested him as he stepped off.

Community Grief and Official Response

Declaros faces murder charges and a lifetime ban from Atlanta’s MARTA transit system. Records show a history of minor offenses and mental health struggles, untreated despite his pleas.

Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens called the killing “a heartbreaking loss of a young woman with so much promise.” He expressed condolences to Iryna’s family and praised the community for not sharing the graphic footage, respecting their grief.

President Donald Trump also denounced the attack, calling it “horrific” and labeling Declaros a “deranged individual” after reviewing the footage.

Iryna, born May 22, 2002, in Lviv, Ukraine, arrived in Atlanta in July 2022 with her mother and younger brother, fleeing war. A talented artist, she dreamed of studying design. Her mother, Anna, described her as “our light, stolen too soon.”

The tragedy has sparked calls for better mental health resources, as Atlanta mourns a life cut short and grapples with the consequences of a broken system.