Together for nine years, the longtime sweethearts came to Philadelphia from Puerto Rico six years ago and had four children together here, relatives said.

But Alejandro, 24, had grown tired of her beau's philandering, and recently dumped him, relatives said.

Joshua Garcia Maldonado didn't take the rejection well.

Maldonado went to the Hunting Park rowhouse where Alejandro lived with their children sometime Wednesday afternoon, barricaded himself and her in the bedroom, then shot her dead before turning the gun on himself, police said.

The couple's four children and Alejandro's 1-year-old nephew were home at the time. The oldest, 6-year-old Joshua, wandered out onto the block, crying: "Something happened to Mommy and Daddy!"

Yesterday, relatives and neighbors gathered outside the two-story, red-brick home on Fairhill Street near Luzerne, stunned by the senseless tragedy.

"I just can't understand: How can you destroy something that brings you life? How could you do that to the mother of your kids?" said Tomas Lopez, 34, Alejandro's cousin, who lived there, too, but wasn't home when the shooting happened.

Lopez first knew something was terribly wrong shortly before 8 p.m. when he saw 6-year-old Joshua sobbing on Fairhill Street.

His grim fears deepened when he went inside the rowhouse and found the television on, its volume blasting, and Alejandro's other children, ages 1, 2 and 3, and her 1-year-old nephew unsupervised.

After Lopez - who the children called "Uncle Bone" because of a skull tattoo on his right bicep - made sure the kids were safe, he climbed the stairs, calling out fruitlessly for his cousin.

Upstairs, he found her bedroom door blocked from within by a TV and a dresser.

He quickly broke through the barricade - and immediately wished he hadn't. Inside, his cousin lay sagged against a playpen, drenched in blood and already dead. Maldonado was slumped dead, prone as if praying, in front of her. Both had been shot in the head; investigators say Maldonado pulled the trigger.

Detectives believe the carnage took place sometime after 3 p.m., said Sgt. Tim Cooney of the homicide unit. Neighbors said Alejandro was last seen about noon; the bodies were discovered about 7:45 p.m.

Although shock prevailed among mourners yesterday, some said Maldonado had given signs that he might do something dangerous.

Alejandro told relatives and friends that Maldonado had bought a gun several days ago. Alejandro also confided to neighbor Sheila Mercado that her ex called her Wednesday morning and began an argument that ended only when Alejandro hung up on him.

"I tried to persuade her to go to Family Court and get a restraining order, but she figured that wasn't going to stop him, and she never thought anything would happen because of the kids," said Mercado, 28.

"She wasn't in love with him anymore, and she wasn't accepting the cheating, but he wasn't accepting the breakup," Mercado added.

About two weeks ago, police responded to a disturbance at Alejandro's home that Cooney described as an argument between the couple. A report indicates that Maldonado left the scene without incident, Cooney added.

Maldonado did not live with Alejandro, and police hadn't confirmed his address yesterday. Police listed his age as 25, while Alejandro's relatives said he was 34.

As a memorial of stuffed animals, candles and graffiti RIPs grew outside Alejandro's home, loved ones loitered to lament the loss of a woman many called a shining light in a gritty neighborhood plagued by drugs and violence.

Alejandro was active in coordinating block parties, and recently hosted a worship service in front of her house for a fledgling church that didn't yet have a building.

Since splitting with Maldonado about a month ago, Alejandro planned to enroll at the nearby Esperanza College of Eastern University to study human resources, friends said.

Maldonado, meanwhile, worked as a concert stagehand in New Jersey and was an infrequent, unsociable visitor to the block, neighbors said. The couple had three sons - all named Joshua - and a daughter, named Jessica after her mother. Neighbors said relatives now are caring for the orphaned children.

"Jessica was a good person. She was a good friend, and she didn't deserve this," said Crystal Graves, 32, the block captain and a close friend.