A man who was fatally shot when picking up his son from his estranged wife in suburban Phoenix was confronted by his baseball bat-wielding stepdaughter, shortly before her uncle killed him during a dispute.
“I got in a fight with my brother in law and I shot him," Alex Cox, brother-in-law to Charles Vallow, said calmly in a 911 call.
The killing of Charles Vallow occurred months before his 7-year-old son Joshua “JJ” Vallow and 17-year-old stepdaughter Tylee Ryan went missing.
Àuthorities say Vallow’s wife and her new husband never reported the children missing and disappeared soon after being questioned by police.
Investigators previously provided an account of the July 11 death but released records Monday that revealed Ryan confronted Vallow shortly before the shooting.
In newly released documents and body camera footage, an inside look at what may have happened inside the east valley home is unveiled.
Body camera footage shows the home with an empty living room, with the exception of Charles Vallow's body and a baseball bat nearby.
Alex Cox initially told police he shot his brother in law after breaking up a fight between Charles and his estranged wife, Lori Vallow.
The fight happened, according to interviews with Lori and her brother, when Charles came to bring his adopted son to school.
The details of the brother and sister do not always match up. The two provide different details when Vallow hit Cox with the bat, when Cox got his gun and when he shot Vallow.
Cox would also die mysteriously in December.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
PREVIOUS STORIES: