Police identify three victims of College Hill stabbing

Lauded stepmother Pat McCollum, her disabled son and her 11-year-old daughter were identified as the murdered victims. Stabbing in College Hill on Thursday.

Cincinnati police say they received multiple calls about a disturbance in the 1000 block of Springbrook Drive. When officers arrived, they found 66-year-old Anthony Mathis holed up in a home.

Chief Theetge said SWAT officers tried to negotiate with Mathis for several hours before entering the home.

Inside, they found Mathis, as well as 78-year-old McCollum, 32-year-old DJ McCollum, and 11-year-old Cadence McCollum dead from stab wounds.

DJ was adopted by McCollum when he was young. The relationship between Cadence and McCollum is currently unknown.

Mathis was taken for treatment to the University of Cincinnati Medical Center, where he died from his injuries.

Mathis’ relationship to the victims is unclear at this time. Police did not immediately respond to the Enquirer’s request for comment.

McCollum says he’ll ‘never break up’ with son DJ

McCollum fostered more than 70 children over two decades and adopted at least four.

McCollum was also a longtime member of New Jerusalem Baptist Church, according to the Rev. Damon Lynch Jr., pastor.

“She was a great mother and good to the kids,” Lynch said. He recalled that he often came with many children on Sundays.

According to the Enquirer’s 2012 report, McCollum never married. She gave birth to her first child in high school, dropped out and completed her high school education in night and summer school.

She earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work from the University of Cincinnati. He taught at the university and trained foster parents. She became a foster parent in 1991 and specialized in caring for children with special needs.

DJ was McCollum’s fourth adoptive child. He came to her when she was 7 years old. He was severely disabled as a baby when 85% of his body was burned when an older child dropped a match in his crib.

She adopted him in 2002 and saw him walk on prosthetic legs and graduate from Woodward High School.

In 2012, she told The Enquirer that she expected the DJ to live with her for the rest of his life.

“Either I die first or he dies,” he said. “I will never leave him.”

The investigation into Thursday’s stabbing is still ongoing. Police ask anyone with information to call 513-352-3542.