Man Charged with Strangling Girlfriend

A Milwaukee man is facing murder charges in the deaths of his 26-year-old girlfriend and her two daughters.

What We Know:

• Arzel Ivery, 25, was charged with three counts of first-degree intentional homicide after leading police to a garage of his former apartment complex where he said he allegedly left the bodies as they burned.
• Milwaukee police found the bodies of Amarah Banks, 26, and her daughters Zaniya Ivery, 5, and Camaria Banks 4, a week after the family went missing.
• Ivery was previously taken into custody for an aggravated battery charge after Banks’ neighbors told police they heard him beating the young mother and dragging her into into her apartment building.
• On Feb. 7, Ivery and Banks attended the funeral for their 21-month-old son, who died from bronchitis in January. After the funeral, Ivery said he went to work and then returned to Banks’ apartment around 1:30 a.m. on Feb. 8.
• Ivery told Milwaukee police detectives that Banks did not want him around anymore because he reminded her of their son.
• Ivery claimed that Banks picked up a knife stating that she did not want to live anymore before swinging the knife at him and cutting his wrist. Ivery told police that he grabbed Banks and shoved her head into the wall which caused her to bleed in the mouth.
• Neighbors told police they heard Banks scream, “No, no, please don’t kill me,” as he dragged her back into the building.
• Ivery told police that he did not want their children living without their mother, so he went into the bedroom and strangled them.
• “Ivery said he kissed [Zaniya] and told her that ‘daddy loves you’ and then told her that her mother wanted her in heaven with her,” before strangling her until she stopped moving.