Motive Still Unclear in Double Homicide

A month after 39-year-old Miguel Renteria allegedly a motive has yet to be provided.

Renteria was formally charged at the Skokie courthouse last Tuesday. He is scheduled for arraignment on Dec. 12 for the gruesome slayings, which took place at an apartment in the 4600 block of Main Street Oct. 26.

Prosecutors said he placed his granddaughter on the floor and stabbed her in the chest after hitting him with a toy.

"While the knife was in her little heart, he [Renteria] made the sign of the cross," said Cook County Assistant State's Attorney Diann Sheridan during a bond hearing on Oct. 28.

Dolores Mondragon, who lives under Renteria’s unit, was home during the killings. On the day of the double homicide, Mondragon said she heard noise that sounded like people fighting, followed by a girl screaming and crying.

Suddenly, “the crying stopped,” Mondragon said.

In the end, 18-year-old Cynthia Renteria and her 2-year-old daughter, Jeiloni, were dead.

After allegedly killing his own blood, Renteria called 911 to turn himself in. Here's a transcript of the conversation, provided by Skokie Police:

“Dispatcher: Skokie 911, what is your emergency?

Renteria: Yes, can you guys come to Kilpatrick and Main? My granddaughter and my daughter are dead.

Dispatcher: They’re what?

Renteria: Dead

Dispatcher: They’re dead?

Renteria: Yeah

Dispatcher: What do you mean they’re dead? How are they dead?

Renteria: I killed them.”

In the chilling moments that followed, Renteria tells the dispatcher that he doesn’t know his own address, and calmly walks outside to provide his location.

“Dispatcher: And this is your daughter and your granddaughter?

Renteria: Yes

Dispatcher: And you killed them?

Renteria: Yes, I killed them.

Dispatcher: How did you kill them?

Renteria: With a knife.

Dispatcher: And who’s talking in the background?

Renteria: No that’s the TV …

Dispatcher: That’s the TV?

Renteria: Yeah, the TV.”

Miguel Renteria’s father, Octavio, told the Chicago Tribune that his son is “a troubled man.”

“My son Miguel is sick,” Octavio Renteria told the Tribune. “I don’t know if his sickness is causing these things. He didn’t want to be with people. If there was a family gathering, he would hang out alone.”

Renteria’s father has said that his son has seen doctors to treat his mental illness, but would still act aggressively throughout the years.

In 1993, Miguel Renteria was sentenced to five years in prison for aggravated assault. He was also charged with unlawful use of a weapon, and was placed on probation from 1991 and 1992, according to police.

"The girls had no blame for what happened,” Octavio told the Chicago Tribune.

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