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RALEIGH, N.C. — <\/span>North Carolina Republican lawmakers pressed Charlotte-area leaders on Monday about crime-fighting efforts following recent light-rail stabbings in the Democratic-led city, with a committee head citing failures in carrying out criminal justice functions.<\/p>\n The August fatal stabbing death<\/a> of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, followed in December by a non-fatal stabbing<\/a> on the same Charlotte rail system, are among the chief reasons for GOP critiques of area law enforcement. The suspect in each stabbing faces charges in state and federal court.<\/a><\/p>\n GOP Rep. Brenden Jones, co-chairman of the state House oversight committee that took testimony from several officials, attributed Zarutska’s killing to broad \u201cincompetence.\u201d <\/p>\n Democrats on the committee pushed back on Jones’ words, with one lawmaker saying he saw no incompetence among many who testified. City officials and the local prosecutor focused their comments on anti-crime strategies already underway and lower crime rates. <\/p>\n Decarlos Brown Jr., the man accused in Zarutska\u2019s death, had more than a dozen prior criminal arrests before the most recent charge, and concerns had been raised about his mental health. Republican lawmakers, as well as President Donald Trump and Vice President JD Vance, blamed Democratic leaders in Charlotte and statewide for soft-on-crime policies they allege allowed Brown to stay out of custody. <\/p>\n Zarutska had \u201ccome to America for a better life. She didn\u2019t get that experience,\u201d Jones said at the meeting\u2019s start. \u201cHer life was cut short not by one individual but by a system that allowed a career criminal to roam your streets.\u201d <\/p>\n \u201cHer blood is on your hands,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles, who was among those testifying Monday, wrote soon after Zarutska\u2019s death that it was a \u201ctragic failure by the courts and magistrates.\u201d She and others have since highlighted additional safety measures for the light rail system. <\/p>\n Most of the committee\u2019s vitriol Monday was targeted at the Mecklenburg County sheriff, who operates the local jail. The committee’s past public scrutiny has been useful for Republicans politically on hot-button issues. The panel can seek more documents or could threaten funding losses \u2014 although that couldn\u2019t occur without separate action by the full General Assembly.<\/p>\n Despite the harsh opening attack by Jones, committee members were cordial in their questioning of Lyles, new Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Estella Patterson and Mecklenburg District Attorney Spencer Merriweather. <\/p>\n During testimony, Merriweather suggested the need for more assistant prosecutors, earlier mental health interventions and combating more onerous crimes by juveniles. <\/p>\n While calling Jones’ statement \u201cstrong,\u201d the meeting \u201creally lets me know that the General Assembly cares about Charlotte and they want to work with us to make our city safer,” Patterson told reporters.<\/p>\n Still, in a news release after the meeting, Democratic Reps. Eric Ager and Maria Cervania accused the panel of engaging in \u201ccynical partisan theatre to paint Charlotte in a negative light.\u201d <\/p>\n Zarutska\u2019s death has already resulted in a new state law<\/a> that bars cashless bail for certain violent crimes and many repeat offenders. It also seeks to ensure more defendants undergo mental health evaluations. Democratic Gov. Josh Stein last week issued an executive order designed in part to address mental health treatment for people whom police confront and who are incarcerated.<\/p>\n Sheriff Garry McFadden has clashed for years with lawmakers who accused him of failing to cooperate with immigration agents seeking to apprehend defendants in his jail. A recent state law has now made it mandatory for sheriffs to honor detainers, which are requests by ICE to hold an arrested immigrant so agents can take custody of them. McFadden said Monday that his office has always “followed the law in notifying ICE,\u201d but it\u2019s up to agents to decide \u201cwhat they do after that notification.\u201d<\/p>\n