Sand Springs is `hurting right now'

Police identify four who died in apparent murder-suicide

SAND SPRINGS— The father of two young children fatally stabbed them and their mother at their Sand Springs residence before taking his own life, police said Monday at a news conference.

Phillip Daniel Stephen Ross, 31, killed Anastacia “Staci” Lynn Smith, 41; River Gale Ross, 4; and Piper Ann Ross, 2, before killing himself, police Capt. Todd Enzbrenner said the evidence indicates.

All four died from sharp-force injuries, he said, adding that investigators “are confident ... that Mr. Ross' injuries were self-inflicted.”

Enzbrenner said the order in which the stabbings occurred wasn't yet known but that Smith was found in the back bedroom, while the bodies of the two girls and Ross were found in the living room.

He said investigators found knives with blood on them but located no other weapons in the residence.

Enzbrenner described the scene as “gruesome” and was particularly tragic with the involvement of young victims, the fact that a parent committed the crime and the manner of the attack.

He said the state medical examiner's report is still pending, including any toxicology report and an approximate time of death. The deaths possibly occurred Friday night, when neighbors heard a commotion around 10:30 or 11 p.m., he said.

Ross had a history of domestic violence, Enzbrenner said, but none of those cases appear to have resulted in any convictions.

Smith was not the victim in any of those allegations, he said, and Sand Springs police had not responded to any calls at the couple's residence in the Sunburst Estates Mobile Home Park.

Ross' mother discovered the crime scene about 2:30 p.m. Saturday afternoon, Enzbrenner said. She had last spoken with the family about 7 p.m. Friday night and was planning to babysit the two young girls Saturday night while Ross and Smith went out to celebrate Smith's birthday, which was the previous week.

When she couldn't reach anyone by phone Saturday afternoon, she went to the residence, Enzbrenner said. She found the screen door unlocked and the front door partially open, he said.

Chief Mike Carter said the Sand Springs Police Department joined the community in offering its condolences to the family.

He also said he wanted to make it clear that “we're not done with this investigation” but that it was important to release information about the victims and to “relieve our citizens of any fear of any ongoing danger.

“We're a close-knit community, and this community is hurting right now,” Carter said.

“This is the worst thing that has happened in my 28 years in law enforcement,” the chief said, adding that he has been bolstered by the outpouring of support and concern from the city's churches, businesses and elected officials.

Enzbrenner, who said he has been on the police force for 30 years, said he doesn't recall ever having a quadruple homicide in Sand Springs.

He said the city's last homicide was in 2017, when a homeowner was found to have been justified in fatally shooting an intruder. He said Saturday that a murder occurred at the same mobile home park about 16 years ago.