CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) - Rep. Laura Budd (D) announced several legislative initiatives she is proposing ahead of this month’s general assembly, after the high-profile murder of Iryna Zarutska on the Charlotte light rail last month.

During a news conference on Monday, Sept. 15, Budd said that she will advocate for expanded judicial discretion, allowing judges and magistrates to initiate commitment proceedings for defendants believed to be mentally ill.

In January, a magistrate released Zarutska’s alleged killer, Decarlos Brown Jr. , on a nonviolent misdemeanor, court records show.

“This single change alone would have enabled the magistrate who had Decarlos Brown in front of her on that fateful day in January this year, to, on her own, initiate commitment proceedings when confronted w

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