Whatley, Cooper Swap Barbs Over Repeat Offender Alleged to Have Murdered Zarutska

The North Carolina Senate battle is heaving allegations back and forth on whether then-Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat, released the man accused of murdering Iryna Zarutska, 23, on a Charlotte train last August.

"When he was North Carolina Governor, Roy Cooper released repeat offender DeCarlos Brown Jr., who went on to brutally murder Iryna Zarutska aboard the Charlotte light rail this past summer," Republican North Carolina Senate candidate Michael Whatley wrote Wednesday on X.

"Cooper said the inmates he released weren't violent. That was a lie. Then he tried to cover it up. An innocent woman is dead, and her blood is on his hands. Instead of taking responsibility, Cooper is still lying and scrambling to hide the truth."

The X post came after a report claimed Decarlos Brown, a repeat offender alleged to have murdered Zarutska in cold blood, was released in 2021 under a COVID-19 settlement signed by Cooper.

But Cooper's campaign refuted that report.

"This is a lie," a Cooper campaign spokesman told Newsmax when reached for comment. "Decarlos Brown was not released from prison as a result of a court ordered settlement but in fact served his full sentence and was not released early."

The North Carolina Department of Adult Correction's Offender Database showed Brown was released five months before the settlement, having served his full sentence.

Still, Whatley is using the repeat offender's murder charges as a warning to voters before arguably the nation's biggest midterm battleground race.

"Roy Cooper's reckless decisions put North Carolinians in danger and cost an innocent woman her life," Whatley wrote in a statement emailed Wednesday to Newsmax. "He released repeat offender Decarlos Brown who later brutally murdered Iryna Zarutska."

North Carolina civil rights groups struck a February 2021 deal with then-Gov. Cooper's administration to allow for the early release of 3,500 inmates in state custody under the guise that COVID-19 pandemic conditions violated inmates' rights under the state constitution.

"Cooper told the public the inmates he released were not violent: That was a lie," Whatley added in his statement.

Cooper has rejected the allegations as false with relation to Brown and called it an attempt to score "political points."

"When the truth came out, he tried to cover it up instead of taking responsibility," Whatley's statement concluded. "An innocent woman is dead, the blood is on Roy Cooper's hands, and he continues to lie rather than answer for the deadly consequences of his pro-criminal, anti-victim agenda.

"He has disqualified himself from serving in public office."

North Carolina has become a key battleground state, and the winner of a prospective Whatley-Cooper race in November could help determine the Senate majority for the final two years of President Donald Trump's second administration.

While Whatley, the former Republican National Committee chair during Trump’s 2024 victory, is enthusiastically endorsed by Trump, the Republican trails by nearly double digits (8.6 points) against Cooper, according to the RealClear Politics polling average.

That data is mostly skewed outside of prospective margins of error by a registered voters poll that had given Cooper a 24-point edge in a hypothetical matchup, which amounts to a wild data outlier.

Trump will take interest in this race as he attempts to help his party keep the Senate majority as political history portends a flipping of the House to Democrats. Trump said Democrats will seek "impeachment" on whatever case they can try to make with political control of Congress.

"Roy Cooper spent nearly 40 years in elected office coddling criminals and protecting dangerous illegals, including this repeat offender," National Republican Seniorial Committee Regional Press Secretary Nick Puglia wrote in a statement to Newsmax.

"Innocents like Iryna Zarutska paid the price, and now two young North Carolinians' lives have been ripped away too. Cooper's deadly soft-on-crime policies have made North Carolina less safe."

Note: This story was updated from its original version to give context for Brown's release date coming before the settlement, including Cooper's campaign statement.