Lawmakers Press Leaders on Crime and Civics at Oversight Hearing

North Carolina lawmakers questioned Charlotte-area officials for hours Monday about public safety, criminal justice practices and jail operations during an oversight committee hearing prompted by two stabbings on the city’s light-rail system, including one fatal attack that helped spur state policy changes.

The House oversight committee session focused in part on the August killing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska aboard the Lynx Blue Line and a nonfatal stabbing in December on the same transit network. Suspects in both cases face state and federal charges.

Rep. Brenden Jones, R-Columbus, the committee’s co-chair, opened the hearing by blaming systemic failures for Zarutska’s death.

“She came to America for a better life,” Jones said. “Her life was cut short not by one individual but by a system that allowed a career criminal to roam your streets.”

Jones described the killing as the result of “incompetence,” drawing pushback from Democratic lawmakers who said testimony reflected ongoing crime-reduction strategies and coordination among agencies.

Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles testified alongside City Manager Marcus Jones, Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Estella Patterson, Mecklenburg District Attorney Spencer Merriweather, and Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden. Officials highlighted additional safety measures on transit and broader policing efforts.

Merriweather pointed to systemic challenges such as staffing shortages among prosecutors, earlier behavioral health intervention and serious juvenile crime. Patterson said afterward the hearing showed lawmakers were interested in working collaboratively to improve safety.

Despite pointed opening remarks, questioning of city officials remained largely cordial. Rep. Jones later said Charlotte leaders were making progress.

“I think the city is doing a good job,” he said. “And it’s going to get better.”

The sharpest exchanges were directed at Sheriff McFadden, whose office runs the county jail but does not oversee transit or city policing. Lawmakers pressed him on document production, immigration enforcement compliance and management issues raised in a petition seeking his removal from office.

During one exchange, the hearing briefly turned into a civics lesson. Rep. Allen Chesser, R-Nash, asked McFadden which branch of government he operates under. McFadden initially referenced Mecklenburg County and the U.S. Constitution and said he did not know how many branches of government exist. After Chesser listed legislative, executive and judicial branches and asked again, McFadden answered that he was part of the judicial branch. Chesser corrected him, noting that sheriffs, as elected law enforcement officials, function within the executive branch.

The sheriff was also questioned about programming inside the county detention center, including a music studio available to inmates.

Rep. Carla Cunningham, D-Mecklenburg — one of five people who previously filed a petition seeking McFadden’s removal — asked whether the studio was appropriate for inmates facing serious charges.

“The family members of some of the victims that were murdered were very upset about that,” Cunningham said. “Do you think that’s appropriate to have a music studio for people to rap in that are in jail for rape or murder or other felonies?”

McFadden defended the program as rehabilitative. “Every single one of us in here listens to music,” he said, adding that music can support mental health and rehabilitation inside detention facilities. “We should highlight all we do for the good of helping young men and women be rehabilitated.”

Cunningham’s petition alleged McFadden threatened to withhold law enforcement protection from her over a legislative vote. The case was dismissed.

Lawmakers also criticized the sheriff’s compliance with federal immigration notification practices, including alerting U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) before releasing certain detainees. Some legislators said the sheriff’s office risked losing federal grants due to compliance issues.

McFadden said he was unaware of any lost funding and denied failing to notify federal authorities.

“We have never not notified ICE of someone coming to our detention center,” he said. “We have always followed the law in notifying ICE.”

Immigration cooperation has been a recurring dispute between McFadden and Republican lawmakers. State law now requires sheriffs to honor immigration detainer requests.

Authorities say the suspect charged in Zarutska’s killing, Decarlos Brown Jr., had more than a dozen prior arrests and documented mental health concerns. He remains jailed, and federal and state judges have ordered psychiatric evaluations to determine competency for trial.

In the second light-rail attack, federal records identify the suspect as Oscar Gerardo Solorzano-Garcia, who authorities say had been removed from the United States twice following illegal reentry convictions. He also remains jailed. Attorneys listed in the cases did not respond to requests for comment.

Zarutska’s death prompted legislative action tightening eligibility for cashless bail for certain violent crimes and repeat offenders and expanding mental health evaluation requirements. Gov. Josh Stein recently issued an executive order aimed at improving behavioral health responses involving people encountered by law enforcement or held in custody.

Democratic lawmakers criticized the hearing's tone, calling it partisan. The oversight committee retains authority to request additional records or make recommendations, though any policy or funding changes require action by the full General Assembly.

The five-hour session underscored sharp political divisions over crime policy while highlighting continuing oversight of local public safety agencies — and included moments ranging from pointed policy debate to exchanges on basic civics and jail rehabilitation programs.