A Ukrainian refugee and her military boyfriend were shot dead in a brutal Valentine’s Day killing in North Carolina, police say.
Kateryna Tovmash, 21, of Vass, and Matthew Wade, 28, of Hamilton, Mississippi, were killed in a double homicide on Saturday morning at Tovmash’s home in the Woodlake community on the outskirts of Raleigh.
It’s the second violent slaying of a Ukrainian refugee in North Carolina in just six months.
Sheriff’s deputies responded to a report of a shooting at a property on Daphne Lane around 7.45 am on Saturday, a release from the department said, where they “located two individuals deceased inside the home.”
According to a Facebook post by Wade’s sister, Megan Wade, the couple was found dead in bed together.
“Katerina’s ex-boyfriend drove seven hours from Ohio to North Carolina, where he broke into her home where she was caring for her younger siblings,” Megan wrote on Facebook, using an alternative spelling for the name of her brother’s girlfriend, who was also known as Katya, or Kate.
“He forced one of her siblings to wake her, then shot her, and then shot my brother, who was sleeping next to her.”
The former lover, Caleb Hayden Fosnaugh, 25, of Ohio, was believed to have fled the scene in a white 2018 Ford Mustang after killing the pair, the sheriff’s office said, warning locals he “should be considered armed and dangerous.”
Law enforcement officials suspected Fosnaugh was making a run for his home in Ohio and launched an interstate effort that also involved the Coshocton County Sheriff’s Office in Ohio, the Ohio State Highway Patrol, the North Carolina State Highway Patrol, and the North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation.
Later on Saturday evening, Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields announced that Fosnaugh had been taken into custody in Ohio.
This is a tragic and senseless loss of life,” Fields said. “Our hearts go out to the families of the victims during this difficult time. We are grateful for the swift coordination and assistance from our law enforcement partners in bringing this individual into custody.”
In posts on social media, Matthew Wade’s sister described her “unbearable” grief at “getting the call that my brother is gone.”
“My brother was such a kind, loving, caring man,” Megan Wade wrote.
“He would give you the shirt off his back, even if it was his last one. He would give you his last dollar, even if it meant going hungry. He would give you his blanket, even if it meant he would be cold. He was so thoughtful and always put everyone before himself. He loved deeply.
“Life is so unfair. No one should ever get a call saying their loved one was murdered. Especially not over something as small as jealousy.”
Another of his sisters, Courtney Miller, said she was “heartbroken” and urged people to donate to a GoFundMe page set up to cover funeral costs for Tovmash, whose family had fled the ongoing war in Ukraine.
“Matt was in the army so his funeral costs will be covered but his girlfriend’s family will be in need of help for Kate’s funeral costs,” Miller wrote on Facebook. “Please, even if you can’t donate, please share!”
Tovmash is the second Ukrainian refugee to meet a violent death in North Carolina after escaping war; last August, the horrifying fatal train stabbing of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte caused national fury, with President Donald Trump calling for the death penalty for her attacker, 34-year-old Decarlos Brown Jr.
That killing sparked renewed debate about public safety and crime across the U.S., with Brown’s criminal record and concerns about his mental health raising questions about how and why he had been released from prison.
Moore County officials said their investigation into Saturday’s killing “remains active,” with detectives “working to fully determine the circumstances that led to this incident.”
Fosnaugh has been charged with breaking and entering and two counts of murder, although it is unclear when he will be returned to North Carolina to face those charges.
