Described as a nice and caring boy, neighbors said 12-year-old Anthony Esposito was taken too soon.

“I know he was learning to play the drums,” said Mary Lou Woods. “He was more into the arts, not too much sports, but he was a sweet little boy.”

Woods lives next to the family on Hemlock Road. She said the family kept to themselves but the son, Anthony, was often outside.

“He would sit up in his in the deck behind us, but he would say he did that because he wanted to get away from the yelling. I would hear shouting, raised voices next door.”

Paul Vincent Rapisarda, another neighbor in the condo complex, described Anthony as nice, friendly and amiable.

“There was so much more after 12 to explore,” he said.

Police arrested the boy’s father, Anthony Esposito Jr., for the murder of his son on Thursday. He appeared in court on Friday.

Meghan Scanlon with Connecticut Coalition Against Domestic Violence said this incident follows a troubling trend the agency has noticed in recent years.

“It’s typically been actually non-biological children that have been killed, but has over the last couple of years, continued to be biological children,” she said. “Anytime there’s a homicide, a family violence homicide, it’s heartbreaking. But especially when children are involved and there’s lives that are lost way too soon.”

She adds that there’s been an increase of children subject to or witness to violence at home since the pandemic.

There are counselors students can talk to from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday at Walsh Intermediate School.

There is also prayer vigil set at 6 p.m. on Sunday at St. Mary’s Church.