CHARLOTTE, NC — A federal court has determined that Decarlos Brown Jr., accused of fatally stabbing Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska aboard a Charlotte light rail train, is incompetent to stand trial but remains, by all other standards, a perfectly regular rider of the city’s public transit.

Legal experts say the finding is not unprecedented. “We’ve long held that being unfit for trial is a totally separate category from being unfit for the Lynx Blue Line,” explained transit attorney Shelby DeWitt. “Thousands pass through the system every day incapable of basic decision-making—most just don’t make national headlines.”

Sources at Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) confirmed that the agency will continue its longstanding policy of allowing anyone—sane, insane, or existentially confused—to board, provided they remember to tap their card. “Our trains are actually designed for the legally incompetent,” boasted CATS spokesperson Mark Kettle. “That’s why the doors open every five minutes no matter what’s happening inside.”

Public reaction has been mixed. “I mean, if you can’t stand trial, you can still stand on the train, right?” mused regular commuter Donna Blinch, adding, “It’s Charlotte, not the Supreme Court.”

Brown will remain in custody and receive treatment until such time as a jury of his peers—defined as anyone who’s ever navigated the 7th Street station escalator—can be assembled.