‘WHAT WAS SHE THINKING?’: Daycare owner strangled her three kids, then took own life

A Connecticut mother killed her three children, then took her own life at the home that doubled as a daycare.

Sonia Loja, 36, of Danbury, Conn., strangled her three kids – Junior Panjon, 12, Joselyn Panjon, 10, and Jonael Panjon, 5 – before she hanged herself, Danbury Police confirmed in a news release.

Two other adults lived at the home, police said. According to the New York Post, Loja resided there with her husband, Pedro Panjon, and his brother.

Panjon left early Wednesday morning for his landscaping job, while his brother left about four hours later, neighbour Elvis Espinal told the paper, adding that he “didn’t see anything weird.”

Espinal noted that Loja told parents of the children she took care of not to drop them off that day.

When Panjon couldn’t get in touch with his wife, he requested a wellness check but got to the house before cops arrived.

“A couple minutes later, he came out and he called 911 and just fainted to the ground,” the neighbour detailed.

When officers arrived, they found the bodies of the children inside the home, and eventually discovered Loja in a shed in the backyard.

Other neighbours were shocked, saying the “quiet” family lived there for four or five years.

“What was she thinking?” said one man whose yard backs onto the family’s and who saw police remove Loja’s body from the shed.

“We’d say hi and wave but they kept to themselves,” he added. “They had parties on the weekends, picnics. Just family. They kept the yard nice, they built that shed.”

Mayor Dean Esposito issued a statement about the “truly horrible event” that rocked the city.

“A truly horrible event occurred in our city yesterday and we mourn the tragic loss of life,” he said. “Our community grieves for the innocent lives taken from us. We will get through this together.”