A girl aged six was killed by her step father with an ax in the evening of May 13, the General Police Inspectorate has said. The 35-year-old man from Leca village of Cantemir district was arrested, IPN reports.

The police were called by a neighbor, who said that the man was under the influence. It was later established that the man had a quarrel with the girl’s mother, who has been working abroad for five years. As she stopped sending him money, the man hit the girl with an ax in the head. The child died in the district hospital shortly afterward.

After committing the crime, the man told his mother that he will kill himself. He was taken to the Cantemir district hospital two hours later, with a knife wound in the left part of the thorax.

According to the police, the man had earlier committed other offenses. In 2012, he was tried for causing bodily injuries to a person.

The man faces up to 20 years in jail or life for intentional murder.