A renowned vegan chef has been arrested and charged with three counts of first-degree murder for the fatal shootings of his estranged wife and two children just hours after he had posted a video of himself singing Christmas songs with his son.
Anthony Milan Ross, 45, has been charged with three counts of first-degree murder and more than a dozen counts of aggravated assault for the murders of Iris Ross, 38, Nigel Ross, 11, and 10-month-old Anora Ross, AZ Central reports.
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Witnesses told authorities that they saw Ross shoot his wife on Christmas day and then go back into the apartment, where they heard two or three more shots fired. Police responded to the scene, where a shootout began.
During negotiations with Ross, he initially told authorities that the children were alive inside and threatened that he would kill them if police didn’t leave. He eventually admitted that the children were already dead.
The standoff came to an end after the Special Assignments Unit entered the apartment. One officer, a 46-year-old on the force for 23 years, was injured by gunfire and taken to the hospital. Ross was taken into custody shortly after.
Shortly after the murders, Iris Ross’s sister, Mary Wogas, received a text message from Ross claiming that he had murdered his family.
“I received a text yesterday about 2:52 p.m. Two messages, first one saying ‘I just killed Iris and the kids.’ The second message was ‘with a gun,’” said Wogas. “I knew that man was very unstable. I knew he had a very, very dark side..I didn’t know it was this dark.”
It is alleged that Ross suffered from depression. A motive for the murders is not yet known.
