‘Hero’ foster mother and 2 adopted children stabbed to death, suspect later dies

A Cincinnati foster mother known for her advocacy legacy was killed this week, along with two of her adopted children, before their suspected killer died of “apparent self-inflicted stab wounds” at a local hospital.

Anthony Mathis, 66, has been identified as a suspect in the Thursday, October 24, slayings of Patricia McCollum, 78, DJ McCollum, 32, and Kaydence McCollum (whose name was also spelled “Cadence”), 11, acc Cincinnati Police Department (CPD).

Mathis “succumbed to his injuries” later in the day after being transported to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, police said.

According to CPD, police officers and Cincinnati Fire Department personnel responded to a report of a stabbing on Springbrook Drive around 8 a.m. local time on Oct. 24 before discovering the three victims with stab wounds and determine that they are dead. CPD’s Homicide Unit is investigating.

“I never dreamed anything like this would happen,” neighbor Diana Turnbow told the NBC affiliate WLWT. “I just heard individuals yelling stop, turn around, don’t run, things like that and that’s all I heard.”

Rosemary Oglesby-Henry, founder of Rosemary’s Babies Company — for which Patricia was a founding board member, according to WLTW — confirmed to the station that DJ and Kaydence are Patricia’s adopted children.

right Cincinnati Enquirerpolice found Mathis when they arrived at the home, where he retreated before SWAT officers tried to negotiate with him for hours.

His relationship to the victims was not clarified in a CPD press release. For more outlets, including Fox affiliate WXIX, applicant and WLWT, Mathis had a criminal record and was previously charged with strangulation and domestic violence in April 2023, with Patricia identified as the victim.

In a criminal complaint cited by WXIX, he was accused at the time of “choking her, causing pain to her neck and lifting her off the ground at the same time.” A judge initially signed a domestic violence protection order against Mathis, whose strangulation charge was “disregarded” by a Hamilton County grand jury, according to reports.

The domestic violence charge was ultimately “dismissed for lack of prosecution,” according to a court record cited by WXIX.

Patricia is now remembered by those who knew her as a “hero” and for leaving a “legacy of love”, according to a GoFundMe campaign shared by Deronn McCollum, which has raised more than $6,000 as of Saturday, October 26, for the woman known to her community as Mrs. Pat.

This legacy includes launching local community programs, caring for hundreds of children and licensing thousands of foster parents. According to GoFundMe, she was known as “Pat for the People.”

ShaRonda Moore, a friend of Patricia’s, told the ABC affiliate WCPO that she and DJ shared “a very unbreakable bond” and that her mother was “very protective” of him. Moore was the DJ’s agency provider and helped look after him for 12 years, according to the outlet.

“She was just a great supporter, a loving mother, who was very supportive of all her children and would go above and beyond for each of them,” Moore said.

According to the GoFundMe, Patricia adopted DJ as a baby and “wasn’t supposed to live past the age of 7” due to medical issues stemming from a “childhood tragedy that left him without limbs and more than 90% of his body deformed. .”

“He lived beyond his years, 32 years, because of the love of Mrs. Pat,” the fundraiser noted. “He learned to walk and talk, giving him a purpose to walk across the stage to receive his diploma. She was his lifeline. She never wanted to be separated from her son. They don’t have to be in Heaven together, as she’d written.”

Kaydence, according to the fundraiser, “brought life and joy to a woman who thought she had adopted her last child until she met this bright little one.”

“She imitated her mother – her smile, her laugh and her heart,” the GoFundMe description reads. “(She) was 11 years old. Too early to leave this life, but with family and an overflow of love here.”

According to GoFundMe, Patricia is survived by her adopted children, foster children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and her two biological children.

“Her legacy will never die,” foster parent Brent Williams told WCPO. “You know? Her legacy will never die.”