A mom from Connecticut who strangled her three children before killing herself was laid to rest on Friday, August 5, alongside the kids she murdered, as heartbreaking pictures showed the weeping father saying farewell to his family in the funeral.
Sonia Loja and her kids were memorialized at Danbury's St. Peter Church in matching white coffins, according to the Connecticut Post. Roughly 100 mourners attended the service at St. Peter's cemetery with the media not allowed inside the church.
Grieving dad Pedro Panjon followed the caskets out of the church after the funeral, as two men held his arms to steady the devastated father. He broke down in tears as his wife and three kids were brought to their final resting places.
Dad found the bodies of his children and wife as he returned home from work
He had allegedly found the bodies of his kids in their home as he returned from work last week. Panjon realized something was wrong when none of the children greeted him at the door as usual.
He then saw a note in the kitchen from his wife, saying that she took the kids with her, family members told the New York Post. According to his cousin, Panjon rushed to the children's rooms and found them strangled with cords, possibly electrical cables.
The 36-year-old mom had been upset after the state of Connecticut shut down the illegal daycare operation she was running out of their family home, according to a kin. Police said she strangled her three kids in the home, then hanged herself in a shed in the backyard.
Cops added that Sonia called the parents of roughly 10 children to tell them not to drop their kids off on Wednesday, July 27. That was the day police say she killed her own children, 12-year-old Junior, 10-year-old Joselyn, and 5-year-old Jonael.
Panjon called 911 to request a wellness check on his wife
Loja's Danbury neighbor Elvis Espinal said in an interview that just before 10 on Wednesday, a guy came to drop off his child and she came to the door and said sorry that she can't watch him today. Loja explained that she had called all the rest of the parents of the children she watches. She could not get ahold of one of them, though, to tell them not to come that day.
Panjon, who works in landscaping and had left early in the morning, called 911 to request a wellness check late in the day because he had been calling Loja and had not heard from her, according to the neighbor.
The state Office of Early Childhood issued a statement, saying Loja was cited twice for the illegal daycare center back in June. She had been cited on June 2 after an anonymous tip, according to the Hartford Courant. A follow-up visit just four days later, however, found kids again at the home, according to the office.
