The father of the three young children found stabbed to death in Los Angeles had been trying to wrest custody of the kids away from their mother, who is suspected of carrying out the unimaginable crime, according to the Daily Mail. Liliana Carrillo, 30, was arrested Saturday after fleeing her home in a stolen car. Cops say she killed her six-month-old daughter and two sons, ages two and three, hours earlier. Teri Miller, a cousin of the children’s father, told the Daily Mail that he had been granted emergency custody of the children in March, but said they remained with their mother and grandmother because authorities did not enforce the court order. In a separate interview with Fox 11, Miller said, “Liliana was very sick, and this is not—she was not herself, and it's been going on for several months that she has been unwell.”

“Looking forward to holding her!” a relative wrote on Denton’s Facebook page beneath a photo of the youngest, days before she was murdered. “All vaccinated and ready the end of April.”

A GoFundMe campaign to help Denton cover expenses has raised nearly $16,000 as of Sunday evening. “Erik Denton, a loving father of three, has lost all 3 of his children in a blink of an eye,” it says. “His ex-girlfriend, mother of his children, murdered their 3 young children, 3, 2, and 6 months. It is more than words to describe his loss and the help that Erik needs at this time.”