Authorities say the couple was killed in a home in Moore County, North Carolina, on Valentine’s Day weekend.
VASS, N.C. — A 21-year-old Ukrainian refugee and her U.S. Army boyfriend were shot and killed in a home in rural North Carolina while she was babysitting her younger siblings, and authorities say her ex-boyfriend was arrested hours later in Ohio and charged with two counts of murder.
The deaths of Kateryna Tovmash and 28-year-old Matthew Wade have drawn attention in Moore County and far beyond it, linking a small-town homicide investigation with a family’s escape from war and a soldier’s life at a major military post. Investigators say the suspect, 25-year-old Caleb Fosnaugh, fled the state after the shootings and was caught as he drove back toward his hometown. He is being held without bond in Ohio as officials in North Carolina prepare the next steps in the case.
Investigators say the shootings happened on a Saturday morning at Tovmash’s mother’s home in Vass, a community in Moore County. The sheriff’s office says Tovmash was caring for her younger siblings when she and Wade were attacked. Authorities have not released a detailed public timeline of each moment inside the home, but accounts shared by people close to the victims say children were present. Tovmash’s childhood friend, Kirill Pryshchepchuk, said the killings shattered the kind of safety she believed she had found after leaving Ukraine. “That was not supposed to happen,” Pryshchepchuk said, describing her death as something that “is not normal in this world.”
Officials say Fosnaugh is accused of breaking into the home and fatally shooting both victims. The sheriff’s office has said children in the home let the suspect inside, not knowing, investigators believe, what he planned to do. Authorities have not publicly described the weapon used, the number of shots fired, or whether there were signs of forced entry beyond the breaking and entering charge. They also have not said whether Fosnaugh knew Wade would be there. Questions about the exact sequence of events, including how long the suspect was inside the house and whether anyone tried to intervene, remained unanswered as the investigation continued.
After the shootings, investigators say Fosnaugh drove away from North Carolina and headed back toward Ohio. He was arrested in Coshocton, Ohio, a trip officials described as roughly seven hours from the area where the killings happened. Ohio authorities were holding him without bond, and the case was expected to move toward extradition proceedings so he can face charges in North Carolina. Prosecutors have not yet laid out in open court what evidence they plan to use, but investigators typically seek to secure phone data, surveillance video from roads or businesses, and forensic evidence from the scene in cases involving travel across state lines.
Tovmash, who friends said also went by “Kate,” had fled Ukraine a few years ago as Russia’s war upended her life, according to those who knew her. Her family’s move to the United States was described as an effort to find safety and stability. Relatives and friends said her parents and five younger siblings later followed. Pryshchepchuk said he last saw her during a visit in Philadelphia and remembered her excitement about building a new life. “She updated me on her life, and she was happy,” he said. “It’s not supposed to happen with anyone, especially to her. She was a good person.”
Wade was a soldier stationed at Fort Bragg, the large Army post in North Carolina that anchors many military families in the region. His sisters described him as the person who could lift a room with jokes and an easy laugh, even when things were difficult. “He loved making people laugh, and he was very good at it,” his sister Courtney Miller said. Officials have not released details about Wade’s unit or his length of service. Those details are often held back early, especially when a family is making funeral plans and the Army is notifying and supporting relatives.
The charge list against Fosnaugh includes two counts of murder and one count of breaking and entering. Authorities have not publicly said whether additional charges could follow, such as charges connected to endangering children, if investigators determine minors were placed in danger during the attack. They also have not publicly described a motive, though investigators in domestic and relationship-related killings often examine messages, prior police calls, protective orders, and statements from friends and family to determine what led up to the violence. The sheriff’s office has not said whether it had previous contact with any of the people involved.
In the days after the deaths, friends and relatives began raising money online to cover funeral costs and travel expenses. Tovmash was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and those close to her said her father and brothers in Utah hoped to bury her there. Supporters said they were trying to cover the cost of transporting her remains and paying for services, a complicated process when a death occurs far from where a family plans to hold burial rites. The fundraising efforts, shared widely on social media, also became a place where friends posted photos and memories of a young woman they said loved music, travel and photography.
Residents in the area described a sense of disbelief that the violence unfolded in a home where a young woman was caring for children. People who knew the family said the younger siblings were part of what made Tovmash determined to succeed in the United States, and they worried about how the trauma would follow them. Pryshchepchuk said the image that stayed with him was not just the loss of his friend but the way it happened in front of someone small enough to be in first grade. He said she was killed in front of her little brother, who is 6. Community members and faith leaders were expected to help coordinate support for the children and relatives as investigators and prosecutors move forward.
The case now turns to court proceedings in Ohio and North Carolina. Fosnaugh remained jailed without bond in Ohio as authorities worked through the legal process required to move him across state lines. Investigators were expected to continue interviewing witnesses and collecting records, including digital communications that could help clarify what happened before the attack. North Carolina officials have not announced an arraignment date or a first court appearance in Moore County, but those steps typically follow once a defendant is returned to the state where charges were filed.
For now, the sheriff’s office has said only that two young adults are dead, a suspect is in custody, and a family that came to the United States seeking peace is planning a burial far from the place where the shooting happened. The next milestone is the suspect’s extradition from Ohio to North Carolina, where prosecutors are expected to outline the evidence and seek to keep him jailed as the case proceeds.
Author note: Last updated Feb. 20, 2026.