Overview
- Brown’s public defender, in a motion filed Tuesday, asked to push the Rule 24 hearing back 180 days because he is held on parallel federal charges.
- A Dec. 29, 2025 evaluation at Central Regional Hospital found him “incapable to proceed” on the state murder case, and a Mecklenburg County judge still must decide whether to accept it.
- Prosecutors said they will not oppose a continuance, which keeps the state proceedings on hold until a competency hearing can be held.
- Rule 24 is a required step before prosecutors can seek the death penalty in capital cases, and Brown also faces a federal count for a killing on a mass transit system.
- The killing of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska spurred Iryna’s Law, effective Dec. 1, 2025, which tightened pretrial release and exposed shortages in psychiatric beds that slow efforts to restore defendants’ competency.