21-year-old refugee from Ukraine shot dead in US. Her ex-boyfriend is suspected of murder

A 21-year-old Ukrainian refugee Kateryna Tovmash and her boyfriend were shot dead in North Carolina. This is the second such incident in the state in the past six months.

This was reported by the local police and the deceasedʼs brother Mykhailo Tovmash.

The murder occurred on February 14 in a private home where Kateryna Tovmashʼs family lived. The suspect is the girlʼs ex-boyfriend, 25-year-old Caleb Hayden Fosno.

According to the victimʼs brother, Fosno arrived in North Carolina from Ohio at night, broke into the house and shot his ex-girlfriend along with her 28-year-old military boyfriend. At that time, Katerynaʼs two younger sisters and brother were in the house — the children were not injured.

Fosno fled after the murder, but was apprehended by police in Ohio. The man is charged with trespassing and double murder.

Kateryna Tovmash was originally from Bila Tserkva. She lived with her family in the United States for about two years, moving there due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

• Another Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska was killed in North Carolina in August 2025. She was fatally stabbed at a light rail station in Charlotte by DeCarlos Brown, who had been arrested multiple times since 2011.
• The suspectʼs sister Tracy Brown shared a recording of the conversation with the Daily Mail, which took place six days after her brother was arrested. He admitted to killing Iryna Zarutska because she "read his mind". Brown said that "the government implanted alien materials in his brain" that controlled his actions.

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