The 35-year-old father of two girls slain in an Easter Sunday tragedy in Melbourne’s north-east has been charged with their murder.
The girls, both aged under five, were found dead at a house in Watsonia. Police arrested a man at the scene on Sunday afternoon.
The girls, Indiana and Savana, were at their grandmother's Longmuir Road house at the time.
Police issued a statement early on Monday saying Charles Mihayo, of Watsonia, had been charged with the murder of both girls and remanded in custody to appear at the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Tuesday.
Police have yet to reveal how the children died or give details of any injuries.
A number of family members were at the home at the time the incident unfolded.
The two little sisters had been seen around the neighbourhood during regular visits with their father, who lived in a flat behind his former mother-in-law’s house.
Assistant Commissioner Andrew Crisp said the tragedy had touched many.
He said what was supposed to have been a long weekend filled with family get-togethers had ended in tragedy.
‘‘It’s a time for families to get together and enjoy each other’s company, and this will have a significant impact on friends, on family,’’ he said.
‘‘A number of our police members have been in tears. This is a tragic set of circumstances.
"There were a number of family members here at the time," Assistant Commissioner Crisp said at the scene.
"It's naturally impacted on friends, neighbours and also on members of the fire brigade, the ambulance services and members of Victoria Police who have attended the scene."
Police were called to the home about 2.40pm. Paramedics arrived soon after and treated the girls for some time.
As shocked neighbours looked at the house behind crime scene tape, friends of the family, who knew the girls’ mother, began gathering at the scene. Some of them embraced each other while others cried.
One man in the group, who gave his name only as Mark, said he had been the best man at the wedding of the children’s parents, but the couple had split more than a year ago.
He hadn’t been able to speak with the girls’ mother since the girls died and hadn’t spoken to the girls’ father in a while either.
A neighbour said the incident was hard to comprehend.
"[I feel] sick to the stomach," he said. "It's really hard to believe this could happen in a quiet little suburban street."
One neighbour recalled hearing screams in the early afternoon.
‘‘There were a couple of screams, a woman, that’s all I heard. And then the police were there,’’ said the neighbour, who declined to be named.
‘‘This is just terrible,’’ said David, who didn’t want to give his last name, as he arrived to see the street flooded with police and paramedics.
David and his wife said they knew the elderly woman who lived in the home and were holding out hope it wasn’t her grandchildren who had been killed.
‘‘It’s really sad if that’s the case,’’ said David’s wife, who did not want to be named. ‘‘She’s a lovely lady.’’
Ben Cameron, who lives five doors down from the home, said he often saw the two girls playing in the area.
‘‘I’m a bit scared, to be honest. I just don’t know how I feel about it,’’ he said. ‘‘I’ve seen those kids before. I know the family. I’ve just seen them around. It’s pretty frightening and scary.’’
The girls’ deaths have shocked the neighbourhood, which Rachel Fish, a resident who lives a few doors away from the house, said had ‘‘always been a quiet area for families’’.
‘‘The wildest thing that’s happened around here is the occasional teenage party.’’
Helen Temple, of Watsonia, arrived early on Monday morning to pay tribute to the slain children.
Ms Temple, who is also a mother, said through tears that she wanted to leave a flower for the "poor things".
"I heard it on the news, and just thought to put a flower for the girls," she said. "I have daughters too, and it's so sad. Hope they rest in peace, poor things."
The simple white flower, wedged between the bars of the metal white fence, was the only sign that anything was amiss in the otherwise idyllic street.
Longmuir Road apeared to be back to normal on Monday, with no sign of police tape to indicate a crime had occurred just hours earlier.
Police arrived just before 9am to continue their investigation.
Three people dressed in grey-and-blue hooded tops arrived at the home just before 9.30am in a blue four-wheel-drive. What appeared to be two men and a woman were then ushered into the house by police.
A neighbour left the house about 9.35am, carrying a box filled with what appeared to be blue towels.
with Caroline Zielinski
