A child killed in his home leaves Baity Hill community reeling

Editor's Note: This story originally ran the family members' full names. While not inaccurate, the surviving victim's name was changed to allow privacy in the future. 

There is light in the darkest of places.  

If she’d had a pen, 28-year-old Baity Hill resident Lauren Talmor would have left a note with those words for Victor Oluwasegva when she saw him a few days after his 5-year-old son was killed. 

Talmor saw Oluwasegva, an MBA student at UNC's Kenan-Flagler Business school, as he was walking into the apartment's management office, his arm in a sling with a cast stretching up to his shoulder.

“I just started shaking,” Talmor said. “As a parent, I can’t imagine something like that.”   

Around midnight on Aug. 20, Victor Oluwasegva called 911. Victor was sleeping when his wife, Ebony, started stabbing him in the face, he said to a 911 dispatcher over the phone.

“She cut me," he said. "Help me.”   

The bleeding was severe, he told the dispatcher. "I think I'm about to pass out."

When officers from University police arrived at Oluwasegva's home — apartment 111 of the Baity Hill complex, a graduate and family housing community at UNC — Oluwasegva told officers that his wife had either injured or killed their son.

After going into the apartment, officers learned Ebony had gone into a bathroom and injured herself, according a search warrant. 

Oluwasegva, 32, and Ebony, 34, were both taken to the hospital for treatment. 

According to the incident report, Ebony could face charges of murder and non-negligent manslaughter. Randy Young, a DPS spokesperson, said he could not comment on Ebony current condition, but no formal charges have been filed.

While searching the apartment, officers found medication prescribed to Ebony for depression and seizures, according to the warrant. They also found a notebook with writings and drawings about depression and death. 

Oluwasegva told police his wife had struggled with mental health issues in the past, according to warrants.  

Several Baity Hill residents saw police cars and heard sirens that night, but it was an Alert Carolina notification that morning that alerted them to the issue.  

Later that day, the University held a meeting for Baity Hill residents on campus at the McColl building; representatives from the business school and the dean of students' office also attended. 

To preserve the family's privacy, the University revealed little information about the details of Aug. 20. But at the meeting, the school shared resources for psychological support and advised that residents report incidents of domestic violence. 

UNC Housing Director Allan Blattner said UNC Housing is working with members of the Baity Hill community to organize additional support meetings for residents, after receiving an email from several community members.

Blattner said students can report issues to any housing office during business hours or to UNC police at all hours. 

When a reported incident is related to domestic violence, Blattner said the University typically involves UNC's Title IX office or the Carolina Women’s Center and refers the people involved to a counseling service on or off campus. 

At the meeting on Aug. 20, Blattner said one audience member recalled reporting a concern to the University and having the issue resolved safely. In his two-and-a-half years as housing director, Blattner said he has never seen a case like this. 

Sridhar Balasubramanian, senior associate dean of MBA programs, said whenever a crisis happens that affects the MBA community, they work closely with UNC to provide students with psychological resources, like CAPS, and other support — though he did not comment on Oluwasegva’s specific case. 

“We are always thinking about what we can do to become better as a community and to help each other out,” Balasubramanian said. “And that’s partly also because at UNC Kenan-Flagler, we are by nature a very tight community.”

According to a student in the MBA program, the University sent out several emails to its MBA students explaining some of the details of Aug. 20 and offering information on resources for psychological support. 

Blattner said UNC Housing, the business school and the dean of students have been working together to provide support for members of the UNC community.   

“There’s not one response that’s going to meet all those needs,” Blattner said. “So we just continue to try to be open and flexible in how we extend support.”   

Talmor said she used to occasionally see Oluwasegva with his son while walking around the Baity Hill community, and though she never knew them personally, it is painful to imagine what sort of distress led to this action.

“This kid has friends,” Talmor said. “This family has neighbors. And obviously it affects all of us.”  

“It hit us like a ton of bricks," she said. 

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