Ukrainian refugee killed alongside boyfriend stationed at Fort Bragg, NC cops say
A Valentine’s Day double homicide in North Carolina is getting international attention due to one of the victims being a Ukrainian refugee.
The killing of Kateryna Tovmash, 21, marks the second time in six months a Ukrainian woman has died violently while seeking refuge in North Carolina, Ukrainian media outlets have noted.
Tovmash died alongside her boyfriend, Fort Bragg soldier Matthew Wade, at her home near Vass, about a 60-mile drive southwest from downtown Raleigh, investigators say.
The suspect – 25-year-old Caleb Hayden Fosnaugh – was captured Sunday during a traffic stop in the Coshocton County, Ohio, the Coshocton County Sheriff’s Office said in a Facebook post. That’s more than 460 miles from the crime scene.
“On February 14 ... at approximately 7:45 a.m., Moore County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a report of a shooting at a residence on Daphne Lane in Vass and located two individuals deceased inside the home,” the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post.
“Investigators have confirmed that Tovmash and the offender, Caleb Fosnaugh, had previously been in a relationship in Ohio.”
Fosnaugh faces two counts of murder and one count of breaking and entering, the Moore County Sheriff’s Office says.
Wade, 28, is originally from Hamilton, Mississippi, and was stationed at Fort Bragg, which is about a 25-mile drive from Vass. Family members report Tovnash was his girlfriend.
Tovmash moved to the U.S. two years ago with her family “after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in search of safety,” The New Voice of Ukraine reports. The shooting took place at an apartment where Tovmash was caring for her younger siblings, family members wrote on social media.
“This is a second time for the past year, when a Ukrainian woman who is a refugee and is hiding for safety in North Carolina, gets murdered,” Tovmash’s brother, Mykhailo Tovmash, wrote in an Instagram post. “I am thankful the (suspect) didn’t touch any of my younger siblings who were at the house during that time.”
The double shooting has been covered by the Kyiv Independent, Ukrainska Pravada, the New Voice of Ukraine and RBC Ukraine, and other media outlets in Europe. All have noted it’s the second killing of a Ukrainian refugee in North Carolina in six months.
Iryna Zarutska, 23, was stabbed to death in August while riding in a Charlotte light rail car. The attack was random and involved a man sitting behind her, video showed. A suspect has been arrested in Zarutska’s death and charged with first degree murder, Charlotte-Mecklenburg police reported.
A GoFundMe campaign is working to raise money to cover funeral expenses for the Tovmash family.
This story was originally published February 16, 2026 at 11:00 AM.