‘Hero’ foster mother and two adopted children stabbed and murdered, suspect dies later

A Cincinnati foster mother known for her legacy of advocacy was murdered 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, was identified as a suspect in the Thursday, October 24, murders of 78-year-old Patricia McCollum, DJ McCollum, 32, and Kaydence McCollum (whose name is also spelled “Cadence”), 11, according to the 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 stabbing report on Springbrook Drive on October 24 around 8 a.m. local time before discovering the three victims with stab wounds and determining that they had died. The CPD Homicide Unit is investigating.

“I never dreamed something like this would happen,” neighbor Diana Turnbow told NBC WLWT. “We just heard people yelling, stop, come back, don’t run, stuff like that, and that’s all we heard.”

Rosemary Oglesby-Henry, the founder of Rosemary’s Babies Company — of which Patricia was one of the founders, according to WLTW — confirmed to the outlet that DJ and Kaydence were Patricia’s adopted children.

According to the Cincinnati researcherpolice found Mathis when they arrived at the house, where he retreated before SWAT officers tried to negotiate with him for hours.

His relationship to the victims was not made clear in a CPD news release. Per multiple outlets, including Fox affiliate WXIX, The researcher and WLWT, Mathis had a criminal history 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 at the time, he was accused of “choking her, causing pain to her neck and simultaneously lifting her off the ground.” A judge initially signed a domestic violence protection order against Mathis. His strangulation charge was “ignored” by a Hamilton County grand jury, media reports said.

The domestic violence charge was ultimately “dismissed for lack of prosecution,” according to a court filing quoted from 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, who as of Saturday, October 26, has raised more than $6,000 for the woman known in her community as Mrs. Pat.

That legacy includes launching local community programs, fostering hundreds of children and licensing thousands of foster parents. According to the 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 the mother was “very protective” of him. Moore was DJ’s desk supplier and helped care for him for 12 years, the outlet reported.

“She was just an amazing advocate, a loving mother, who was very supportive of all her children and did the very best she could for each of them,” Moore said.

According to the GoFundMe, Patricia adopted DJ as a child and was “not allowed to live past the age of 7” due to medical issues stemming from a “childhood tragedy that left him limbless and over 90% of his body deformed.”

“He lived beyond his years, 32, because of the love of Mrs. Pat,” the fundraiser said. “He learned to walk and talk, which allowed him to walk across the stage to receive his diploma. She was his lifeline. She never wanted to divorce her son. She doesn’t have to be in heaven together, just like her.” d written.”

According to the fundraiser, Kaydence “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 read. “(She) was 11 years old. Too early to leave this life, but she had family here and an abundance of love.”

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

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