Vegan Chef Anthony Milan Ross Accused Of Murdering Family

Vegan chef and motivational speaker Anthony Milan Ross is accused of fatally shooting his ex-wife and two young children on December 25 at an apartment complex in Phoenix, Arizona. The incident happened just hours after he posted a video singing Christmas carols with his son on Facebook. Now, the 45-year-old, who co-authored two healthy eating books, faces three charges of first-degree murder.

According to court documents obtained by a local ABC affiliate, witnesses told police they saw Anthony shoot his ex-wife Iris Ross as she tried to run away from him. When he was asked whether or not the victim was okay, he reportedly responded, "no," pointed his gun at the witnesses, retreated to the apartment where his children, 10-month-old Anora Ross and 11-year-old Nigel Ross, were, and fired two or three more shots.

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Iris' sister Mary Wogas says she received frightening texts from her ex-brother-in-law that same day around 2:52 p.m. She recounted that the first one said, "I just killed Iris and the kids," and the second one added, "With a gun."

"I knew that man was very unstable. I knew he had a very, very dark side. I didn't know it was this dark," Wogas told ABC 15.

Police arrived on scene at 3:45 p.m. and found Iris' dead body in the front patio way of the complex. Officers began negotiations with the suspect, who had barricaded himself inside the apartment. After several hours, he reportedly began shooting at authorities.

Just after 10 p.m., officers were able to deploy a robot inside the house where they discovered Anora's lifeless body, KTLA reports. The Special Assignments Unit eventually gained entry into the apartment where they found the other child's body and took the chef into custody.

One officer was injured by gunfire and taken to a hospital, but is said to be in stable condition.

The suspect faces three counts of first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated assault, 19 counts of aggravated assault against an officer, and a count of discharging a firearm in city limits. He's expected to appear in court on January 3.

A GoFundMe account has also been set up to help the Ross family cover expenses associated with funeral costs. So far, more than $4,500 of a $25,000 goal has been raised.

For more too-soon fatalities, here are 13 tragic and unfortunate food deaths.