Man Charged with Murder After Dismembered Body Remains were Found in his Apartment

An Arizona man has been charged with first-degree murder after dismembered human remains were found in a suitcase at his apartment. Police arrested him and charged him with murder and kidnapping.

Investigators said the victim’s remains were initially discovered in a hallway closet, and additional body parts were later found inside the suspect’s apartment.

A 22-year-old Arizona man, identified as Christopher Michael Ebanks, was charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping after the alleged discovery of the victim’s remains, according to court documents obtained by People.

Authorities arrested Ebanks after the Phoenix Police Department was alerted to a possible homicide at the apartment around 9 a.m. on May 7, according to a department press release.

The caller, identified as Jeffery Majalca, told authorities that he had been contacted by his daughter, Selena Blanco, who claimed a man had killed her boyfriend. She also told her father that the body was inside the man’s apartment, according to the probable cause statement obtained by People.

Majalca also told authorities that the victim had been placed in a bathtub before being “wrapped up and put into a closet.”

According to the probable cause statement, officers smelled bleach and other cleaning chemicals upon arriving at the scene and observed wet floors and cleaning supplies. Authorities also found blood and “signs of cleanup efforts throughout the apartment,” the statement said.

After the Phoenix Police Department’s Homicide Unit began investigating, officers discovered the remains of a deceased male who was missing his head and hands, according to the statement. The dismembered remains were allegedly wrapped in carpeting and an air mattress, and tied with an extension cord. Police have not yet released the victim’s identity or disclosed his relationship to the suspect.

During the investigation, Blanco told authorities that her boyfriend, the alleged victim, contacted Ebanks, whom she identified as “Draco,” to help him obtain the rent money of May 6th. Blanco told the police that she, her boyfriend, and Ebanks got into an argument.

As the argument escalated, she claimed that Ebanks used a knife to repeatedly stab the man, according to a probable cause affidavit. She also claimed that Ebanks forced her to drive him to his Glendale apartment, where she says he made her take a shower to destroy evidence, and used a knife and a gun to threaten her to help him clean up the scene, according to the affidavit.

Police say they used surveillance footage, phone records, and information from Ebanks’ prior criminal record to determine his location the following day, May 8th. After executing a search warrant, they allegedly discovered a suitcase with human remains inside in the apartment.

Ebanks was booked on the charges of first-degree murder and refused to speak to the investigators. The judge set a $1 million cash bond. He is scheduled to appear in court on May 14th.