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Dad Tells 911 Dispatcher: 'I Killed Them'

UPDATED 11/01/11 8:47 a.m.

SKOKIE (CBS) -- A Skokie father admitted during a 911 call that he stabbed has teenage daughter and 2-year-old granddaughter to death.

As WBBM Newsradio's Mike Krauser reports, Miguel Renteria, 39, of 4657 Main St., allegedly stabbed them multiple times before calling 911 to confess.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio's Mike Krauser reports

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Renteria appears to be heard on the 911 call, saying, "My granddaughter and my daughter are dead."

"They're dead?" the dispatcher asks. "What do you mean they're dead? How are they dead?"

"I killed them," Renteria replies in a calm and even voice.

"You killed them?" the dispatcher asks.

"Yes. Yes, I killed them," Renteria replies.

"How did you kill them?" the dispatcher asks.

"With a knife," Renteria replies.

The dispatcher goes on to ask what happened and why, to which Renteria replies, "Listen, can you just send the police over here?"

A television is heard in the background throughout the call. Shortly after the dispatcher tells Renteria police are on their way, the line goes dead.

Renteria's daughter, Cynthia Renteria, 18, and her daughter, Jeiloni Renteria, 2, were found stabbed to death Wednesday afternoon after police responded to the call. Their bodies were inside Renteria's home, a three-flat apartment near Main Street and Kilpatrick Avenue.

Cynthia showed signs of asphyxiation, and Jeiloni had multiple stab wounds, police said. They both lived together in Chicago.

Autopsies found the woman died of strangulation and a stab wound to the left breast. The baby died from multiple stab wounds, and both deaths were ruled homicides, the medical examiner's office said.

The Cook County State's Attorney approved two counts of first-degree murder against Renteria, who appeared in court the following day.

Prosecutors did not provide a motive for the murders, but they laid out their scenario of the deadly surprise attack that occurred in that first floor apartment.

According to court records, Renteria called his daughter to tell her he was going to pick her up to sign up for a gym membership.

But before he left his home, prosecutors allege, he placed a knife by a living room lamp.

Renteria picked up his daughter and granddaughter from their home and brought them to the Skokie apartment, court records state. When his daughter took out toys for the baby, he grabbed the knife and used two hands to stab her in the chest. She struggled and fell to the floor, scratching her father's face as the toddler cried and screamed.

Prosecutors further stated that Renteria used his forearm to press down on his daughter to get her to stop breathing. The toddler cried while watching her mother's attack and tried to hit her grandfather with a toy to make him stop, court records state.

That's when Renteria noticed his knife was broken so he put the bloody blade next to his daughter's body before grabbing another.

Prosecutors said he placed his granddaughter on the ground and stabbed her in the chest.

Renteria was held without bond last week.

The only contact Skokie Police said they had with Renteria before the incident was a traffic citation, and there had been no contact with the victim, Cynthia Renteria, they said.

But a court spokesman Friday said Renteria had a more extensive history with the law beyond Skokie.

Renteria was arrested more than 15 times since 1990 and was convicted of unlawful use of a weapon, she said. In 1993, he was sentenced to five years in prison on an aggravated battery charge.

Renteria only recently had rented out a room from a family who lived in the first floor apartment on Main Street.

The Sun-Times Media Wire contributed to this report.

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