The family of Iryna Zarutska, the 23-year-old Ukrainian refugee stabbed to death aboard a Charlotte light rail tram in August 2025, has filed a lawsuit against the City of Charlotte and its private transit security contractor, Professional Security Services (PSS). The suit alleges "systemic failures" within the CATS transit system that the city had long been aware of, including the absence of physical barriers or fare enforcement to stop unticketed passengers boarding trains. The case reopens scrutiny of transit safety a year after the killing, which was captured on widely circulated footage and shocked the nation.

The lawsuit claims PSS was understaffed on the night of the attack, with only 183 of 219 funded security personnel employed, and just 11 of 39 budgeted armed guards on duty. It also alleges conductors were instructed not to confront fare-dodgers, and cites four other homicides or assaults near Blue Line stops in recent years as evidence that violent crime was "foreseeable". The accused killer, DeCarlos Brown Jr, who had a lengthy criminal record including armed robbery, allegedly boarded without paying and stabbed Zarutska in the neck as she sat in front of him. He has since been declared unfit to stand trial and faces federal charges over the death on mass transport.