Mother Strangles Her 3 Children to Death Before Killing Herself, Father Discovered The Bodies
Sunday, August 7, 2022
On Thursday, the Danbury Police Department identified Sonia Loja and her three kids, 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, authorities said in a statement shared to Facebook.
Police responded to the family's home around 6:15 p.m. Wednesday after they received a 911 call from a person "who sounded distraught and was crying," and requested a wellness check at the residence, Danbury Police Chief Patrick Ridenhour told CBS New York.
"When officers arrived, they found three deceased juveniles inside the home and they found a deceased female in the backyard at the residence," Ridenhour said.
Loja, 36, and her kids lived with two other adults who were not home when police discovered the bodies, police said in a statement Thursday. Neighbors identified the other two adults as the children's father and uncle, according to CBS New York.
"Every day those kids were outside, but she was always with them," neighbor Erna Grenier told the outlet. "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.
A memorial created outside of the home where Loja and her children lived "grows every hour," News 12 Connecticut reporter Shosh Bedrosian wrote on Twitter Thursday.
"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.
Mayor Esposito's office did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment Friday.
Danbury police said Thursday that they were not looking for any suspects and did not believe the larger community was in any danger, according to CBS New York.