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A man was arrested Friday after human remains were discovered at two different apartments in the Valley last week.
Shortly after 9 p.m. on Thursday, May 7, police responded to a call at an apartment complex near 24th Street and Thomas Road in Phoenix. The caller told authorities that his daughter told him a man had killed her boyfriend.
When officers arrived at the scene, they located a unit containing a strong odor of bleach, according to court paperwork. As authorities conducted a sweep of the unit, they discovered a dismembered body in the hallway closet, with the head and hands missing.
At a later time, the daughter returned to the apartment complex and was detained by police, according to court documents.
She then provided a statement to authorities, saying that it was her boyfriend who was killed.
The woman told authorities that the boyfriend had contacted an associate only known to the woman as "Draco, T, or Charles," for help obtaining money on Wednesday, May 6.
After returning to the apartment from a shop, tensions escalated between the woman, her boyfriend, and the associate, according to court documents.
The woman then told police that the associate, later identified by court records as 32-year-old Christopher Ebanks, produced a knife and repeatedly stabbed the boyfriend. She later saw Ebanks leaving the Phoenix apartment, carrying a suitcase.
Ebanks then reportedly took the woman to his apartment complex, located near 43rd Avenue and Bethany Home Road in Glendale, and forced her to shower "in an attempt to destroy evidence," according to court documents.
The woman also told authorities that several days before the murder, she drove Ebanks to a meeting with his probation officer, which helped authorities confirm his identity.
On Friday, May 8, authorities went to Ebanks' Glendale apartment, where they located a suitcase containing human remains, consistent with that of the boyfriend, according to court documents.
Ebanks was taken into custody on first-degree murder and kidnapping charges.
Ebanks previously pleaded guilty to charges of misconduct involving weapons and possession of a dangerous drug in 2023.
