A Macomb County family is grieving after a father discovered a parent's worse nightmare: his daughter and 13-month-old granddaughter slain inside their home.

Monique Rakowski, 29, and her daughter, Carmon, were found dead with stab wounds inside their Eastpointe home by Rakowski's father Thursday night. This morning, Rakowski's live-in boyfriend, who is believed to be Carmon's father, turned himself in and is being held in connection with their deaths, Eastpointe police said.

"It's such a shock," said Gloria Rakowski, Monique Rakowski's grandmother. "You just can't believe how terrible this is."


He said the father went inside and found the two bodies..

"It's a tragic event especially for the family," McNeilance said, adding the case is especially difficult because a child is involved.

Monique Rakowski's boyfriend, 30, turned himself in to Dearborn police about 9:30 a.m. today. The boyfriend, who McNeilance did not name because he has not yet been charged, had some "medical issues" and was treated at a local hospital before being transferred to the Eastpointe police lockup.

McNeilance declined to say what injuries the boyfriend had or if they were related to the double homicide.

He said the boyfriend could face interim arraignment with an interim bond set during the weekend, but any formal arraignment probably would not be until Tuesday.

McNeilance said Rakowski and her daughter had stab wounds but he declined to say if they suffered other injuries. He said the Macomb County Medical Examiner's Office would determine their causes of death.

McNeilance declined to disclose the condition of the home or any evidence recovered. However, he said authorities believe the deaths occurred within 24 hours of the bodies being found.

He said the boyfriend is the main suspect in the crime. As far as he knew, Rakowski's car remained missing. Police described it as a dark-blue 2007 Chevrolet Impala with the Michigan license plate 1HXJ18.

McNeilance said it would be speculative to say what the motive was in the crimes. He said police have had prior contact with the boyfriend and Rakowski in the last year, but he declined to say what the contacts were.

Neighbors were shocked, with a couple of them saying the family was quiet and kept to itself during the year or so they lived in the bungalow-style home where a grill and stroller were seen on the front porch.

Next-door neighbor Michael Valerio, 21, said he last saw Rakowski shoveling snow when the metro Detroit area was hit with record-setting snow last month. He said he hears about these types of crimes happening but he did "not think it would happen right next door."

Gloria Rakowski said she was very close with her granddaughter and went bowling with her every week. She said her family is stunned.

"As far as I'm concerned, she was as sweet as can be," she said. "There wasn't anything I couldn't ask her that she wouldn't do for me. We texted every night, 'good night.' You couldn't ask for a better granddaughter. It's just a tragedy that I don't know if any of us will ever get over this."

Gloria Rakowski said her daughter-in-law called broke the heart-breaking news to her..

"My daughter-in-law called me, her husband is the one who found them so he had to call his wife and tell her what he found," she said. "We went over there to be with her, but there's not anything you can say for someone or do for them in this."

Gloria Rakowski said her granddaughter does have another child, a boy, who was with other family members at the time of his mother's death.

"If he wasn't, we might have lost him, too," she said. "I have no idea why anyone would do this. I just have no idea. I can't imagine anyone doing it to anybody, let alone two people. It just doesn't make any sense. We can't figure it out. It's just too much to comprehend. You think this only happens in stories that you see on TV and you're just waiting for someone to say, 'wake up' from this, but you can't."

Anyone with information about the whereabouts of the car or the incident is asked to call police at 586-445-5100.

Contact Christina Hall: Follow her on Twitter: @challreporter.

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