Charlotte carries a wound that must not be forgotten.

On August 23, 2025, 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska, a Ukrainian refugee who fled her homeland for safety and peace, was brutally murdered while riding Charlotte’s light rail. She came here with hope in her heart — for a new life, for freedom, for safety. That hope was stolen from her in a place where she should have been protected.

Iryna’s story is heartbreaking because it is universal. She could have been any of us — a daughter, a sister, a friend. She was someone who believed in the promise of a safer future, and she deserved to see that future.

On September 22, 2025, hundreds of residents gathered at the East/West Boulevard Station for a candlelight vigil. People of all faiths and walks of life came together in grief and solidarity. They prayed, they wept, and they stood shoulder to shoulder to honor a young woman whose life was cut short too soon. That night, Charlotte’s light rail platform became sacred ground.

Now, it is time to turn remembrance into action.

We, the undersigned, call on the City of Charlotte and the Charlotte Area Transit System to rename the East/West Boulevard Station as “Iryna Zarutska Station.”

Renaming the station would be more than a symbolic gesture. It would be:

• A living memorial to a young woman who came here with courage and dreams.
• A daily reminder to every commuter that public safety is not optional — it is essential.
• A commitment to change, ensuring that Iryna’s death was not in vain but became a turning point for Charlotte.

Every time someone boards a train at Iryna Zarutska Station, they will remember her name. They will remember that safety is sacred, that every life matters, and that Charlotte stood up after tragedy to say: Never again.

Let us unite as neighbors, as friends, and as fellow human beings to ensure that Iryna’s memory lives on — not as just another victim, but as a symbol of love, resilience, and the promise of a safer future for all.

For Iryna. For her family. For Charlotte.

Sign this petition to rename East/West Boulevard Station as Iryna Zarutska Station. Let her name shine as a beacon of remembrance and hope for generations to come.