A mother living in Danbury, Connecticut, fatally strangled her three children before taking her own life on Wednesday.
The Danbury Police Department identified Sonia Loja and her three children, 12-year-old Junior Panjon, 10-year-old Joselyn Panjon and 5-year-old Jonael Panjon, each of whom they found dead on Wednesday evening.
Police arrived at the family’s home around 6:15 p.m. after receiving a 911 call from a person who sounded distraught and crying.
“The person requested a wellness check at the residence”, according to Danbury Police Chief Patrick Ridenhour. “When officers arrived, they found three deceased juveniles inside the home and they found a deceased female in the backyard at the residence.”
Loja, 36, and her kids lived with two other adults who were not home when police discovered the bodies. Neighbors identified the other two adults as the children’s father and uncle.
“Every day those kids were outside, but she was always with them,” neighbor Erna Grenier said. “It’s unbelievable. They were happy, those kids. If anybody was walking by, they would say hi.”
“Didn’t hear anything, no yelling. Never heard yelling or anything over there,” Grenier continued. “It’s sad. Why do people have to involve kids?”
“A truly horrible event occurred in our city yesterday and we mourn the tragic loss of life,” Danbury Mayor Dean Esposito said in a statement on Twitter Thursday.
Esposito said in the statement that the city and its public school system will collaborate to provide mental health and counseling services in the wake of the tragedy.
News 12 Connecticut reporter Shosh Bedrosian wrote on Twitter, “A memorial created outside of the home where Loja and her children lived grows every hour.”
“Our community grieves for the innocent lives taken from us,” Esposito wrote in a follow-up post. “We will get through this together.”
Autopsies were scheduled for Loja and her children Thursday morning at the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Farmington, Connecticut, according to Danbury police, but no results have been announced yet.
Danbury police said Thursday that they were not looking for any suspects and did not believe the larger community was in any danger.