'I remember the baby screaming': neighbour of Phoenix double murder victims

The 34-year-old woman and the two-year-old girl were attacked on Wednesday morning.

The woman died at the scene while the toddler passed away en route to hospital.

A neighbour who rushed over says she can't forget the child's screams.

"One thing I actually remember which is still on my mind is the baby screaming. I think this man is psycho. I don't know how he did that, because this was a brutal murder. He literally slaughtered these people." she said.

She says it was a horrific scene.

"We are horrified. I can still remember what the woman was wearing, how she was laying. It's still in my mind and I cannot get it out, when I close my eyes I remember the baby screaming and how she was laying, the blood was everywhere and we are so scared. 

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"We cannot even sleep at night, we are just terrified. I would have liked not for him to be arrested, but to be dead right now. That's what I want." she said.

The owner of the property says the suspect told him the attack was necessary.

The 62-year-old man, believed to have been the woman's partner, was arrested in the early hours of Thursday morning after he returned to the outside room he was renting.

Mondli Mtolo says he heard a noise and was shocked to find it was the suspect.

"I just took a sneak peek and the guy was here. It was so terrifying that he has the nerve to come back after what he has done."

Mtolo phoned the police. He says he asked the man a question before he was taken away.

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"I asked him why he killed the child and what did she do to deserve that, why? Although I managed to ask him this question just before he was apprehended. 

"He answered in Zulu and I don't want to interpret in English. He said to me 'Bekuphoqa." Which in English loosely means "It was necessary."