SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Three young children were killed and their father was found hanged in an apparent murder-suicide in southern Puerto Rico, police said Wednesday.

Police found the bodies of two girls and a boy inside a home in the coastal city of Ponce after receiving a call about a man who took his own life, Officer Mayra Ayala told The Associated Press. Police said the children were 6, 8 and 10 years old and apparently were asphyxiated. They identified the father as 50-year-old Erick Seguinot.

Police chief Jose Caldero told reporters that the man had been charged with domestic violence and was out on bond in a case involving the children’s mother. The man had a hearing later this month and had been ordered to wear an ankle monitor.

Caldero said the children’s mother was travelling outside of Puerto Rico and that a recent protection order did not prohibit Seguinot from being with his children. Officials said the mother is apparently from Brazil.

Ginette Collazo, director of the school that the children attended, said in a statement that they were excellent students who were fluent in three languages and radiated happiness. They were in first, third and fifth grade.

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This story has been corrected with police giving new ages for the children.