On February 14, Kateryna Tovmash, a 21-year-old refugee from Ukraine who had moved to the United States due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, was shot and killed in North Carolina. Iryna Zarutska was killed in the same state in August 2025.
The circumstances of the crime were described by the local police and the deceased's brother, Mykhailo Tovmash.
According to the investigation, the suspect is the girl's ex-boyfriend, 25-year-old Caleb Hayden Fosno. According to Kateryna's brother, Fosno came from Ohio and entered the house where the Ukrainian woman lived with younger family members.
He forced the younger children to wake up their sister, then shot and killed Kateryna and her 28-year-old partner, who was nearby. The children were not injured in the attack. After the murder, Fosno fled, but was later apprehended by law enforcement. He was charged with two counts of first-degree murder.
“A refugee who fled the war in Ukraine in search of safety in the United States was murdered in her own home in North Carolina. This is the second case in the last year when a Ukrainian woman who is a refugee and finds refuge in North Carolina is killed by a man,” the deceased's brother, Mykhailo, wrote on social media.
Kateryna Tovmash was originally from Bila Tserkva and lived in the United States for about two years, her family having left the country due to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
What is known about the murder of Iryna Zarutskaya in the USA
On August 22, 23-year-old Ukrainian woman Iryna Zarutska was found dead at a light rail station in Charlotte, North Carolina. She had arrived in the United States after Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
According to police, Irina was fatally stabbed. The suspect in the attack, 34-year-old DeCarlos Brown, was arrested by police. Brown has been charged with first-degree murder. The motive for the murder remains unknown, and the investigation is ongoing.
Brown has been arrested several times since 2011, including on charges of aggravated robbery, robbery with a dangerous weapon, and making threats. Almost all charges were dropped. In January 2025, he was charged with misuse of the 911 system, which is currently pending.
US President Donald Trump said he was calling for the death penalty for Derraclos Brown, and Elon Musk promised to allocate $1 million to create murals depicting Irina.
On October 22, DeCarlos Brown Jr., 34, who has a long criminal history, was indicted in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of North Carolina on one count of assault resulting in death. The charges carry the potential for the death penalty.