SOUTH LOS ANGELES (CBSLA.com) — Police on Wednesday took into custody the father of three young boys who were found stabbed to death inside an SUV in South Los Angeles on suspicion of murdering the three boys.

The boys, all of them between the ages of eight and 12, were found in the car Wednesday morning with fatal stab wounds. A family member identified the boys as Juan, Luigi and Alex Fuentes. Their father was identified by family members as Luis Fuentes.

The boys’ father was found in the front seat with stab wounds that were believed to be self-inflicted. Police confirmed that the man in custody was the boys’ father and the only suspect in the crime.

Paramedics were called to the scene on the 300 block of East 32nd Street at around 7 a.m., where they found the three boys and the man in a silver Nissan parked along the curb. Police said they found a knife inside the car.

A man who works near the scene told KNX 1070 he was walking by the car when he saw a bloodied man in the front seat. He approached the vehicle and saw a boy with his eyes wide open and covered in blood. The eyewitness said he then noticed at least one other body in the backseat, he said.

The deadly stabbing has shocked many neighbors and classmates of the boys.

One neighbor, who asked not to be identified, said there had been tension at the family’s house after the boys’ mother died three years ago and their father remarried. The neighbor said the boys’ stepmother had attempted to kick the boys out of the home as recently as Tuesday.

A prayer vigil for the boys was held at 7 p.m. at the crime scene, at 301 E. 32nd St.