After attacking his wife, the estranged husband went after their two children, she said.
An Illinois father went on a rampage, screaming "Are you all ready to die today?" as he beat his wife and their 9-year-old daughter and shot to death his toddler son before turning the gun on himself, authorities said.
Colton Miller, just 18 months old, was shot several times and was pronounced dead at the scene, according to the Kendall County Coroner's Office.
Christopher Miller, 35, died from self-inflicted gunshot wounds, the medical examiner said.
The attack occurred Saturday morning, just after Cassandra Tanner-Miller had put Colton down for a nap, she said. She was in the kitchen, unloading groceries, when her estranged husband burst through her back door, she said.
"I met the devil that day," she told NBC Chicago.
The anguished mother said her husband, from whom she was separated and not living with, was smiling and shouting, "Are you all ready to die today? We're all dying today!"'
"He started hitting me over and over and over again," she told the station. "I didn't care if he took me, just please don't take my babies from me."
Cassandra said they separated because he had been abusing drugs and had become unstable after serving in the National Guard. She encouraged him to seek help, she said, but those efforts were for naught and she moved out of their shared home and into a Joliet house with her 9-year-old daughter, Camryn, and Colton.
After leaving Cassandra with a broken knee, bruises and a black eye and choking her into unconsciousness, Christopher then went upstairs and after Camryn, beating and choking her until she slipped free and ran down the stairs. Her mother began waking up and shouted for Camryn to go get help, according to a GoFundMe page established for the family.
Christopher then locked himself in a bedroom with the sleeping Colton, whom he shot multiple times, the page said. He went after Cassandra again, but she had gotten herself and Camryn out of the house by that time, she said. Christopher went back to the baby's room, fired several more rounds and then shot and killed himself, she said.
The Illinois National Guard is investigating the shooting to determine if Christopher received proper care and services, officials said in a statement.
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