Mother and two daughters from Amber Alert found dead in apparent homicide
A mother and her two young daughters were found slain Sunday afternoon, a day after police issued an Amber Alert.
The bodies of Amarah J. Banks, 26; Zaniya R. Ivery, 5; and Camaria Banks, 4, were found in a garage in the 4700 block of West Burleigh Street, the victims of an apparent homicide, Milwaukee Police Chief Alfonso Morales said at a news conference.
They were discovered after the arrest of Banks' boyfriend Arzel J. Ivery, 25, in Tennessee. One count of felony aggravated battery was filed against him Saturday in Milwaukee County, according to online court records.
Ivery is scheduled to be arraigned Monday morning in Tennessee on a fugitive from justice warrant.
The Milwaukee County Medical Examiner's Office was called to the scene Sunday. Autopsies were scheduled for Monday.
Morales noted that last year roughly one in five non-fatal shootings and homicides involved domestic violence.
Though the police chief did not specifically say Banks was a victim of domestic violence, he said police last week investigated "another incident where a live-in boyfriend set his girlfriend, (the) mother of his child, on fire. She's still in the hospital and he's in custody."
"This is a systemic problem that's been going on for generations. We all have to look back and see how we're going to curb domestic violence in our community," said Morales.
"As you see, people will blame the police department regarding these deaths. That's unfair, uncalled for and unwarranted," said the police chief.
Also on Sunday, Reggie Moore, director of the City of Milwaukee Office of Violence Prevention, offered condolences to Banks' family.
"We must get to a point where even the thought of violating a woman or child in our city would be intolerable and getting away with it impossible," Moore said in a statement. "I pray that we have finally reached that point."
Banks was reported missing by her family to Milwaukee police a day after she and her daughters were last seen about 1 a.m. Feb. 8 near North Sherman Boulevard and West Green Tree Road.
The previous day the family had a funeral for Banks' 1-year-old son who died from respiratory problems, according to a GoFundMe page.
A week later, on Saturday around 2:30 a.m., Memphis authorities called Milwaukee police to tell them they had made contact with Ivery. Milwaukee detectives traveled to Memphis to talk to Ivery and were directed to the garage where the bodies were found.
Police did not say who owned the property where the bodies were discovered nor reveal the cause of death.
Around noon on Saturday police issued an Amber Alert for Banks and her daughters. Morales defended the fact the alert wasn't issued until a week after they were first reported missing.
"There is criteria that goes for an Amber Alert for us to issue that," Morales said. "You have to understand that foul play was not an initial part of this investigation."
The Sojourner Family Peace Center in Milwaukee operates a 24-hour confidential hotline at (414) 933-2722. The Milwaukee Women's Center also offers a hotline at (414) 671-6140.
The National Domestic Violence Hotline can be reached at (800) 799-7233. For a list of domestic violence resources in the Milwaukee area, click here.
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MILWAUKEE HOMICIDES: The Journal Sentinel is tracking homicides to memorialize victims and better understand deadly violence.
Sophie Carson of the Journal Sentinel staff contributed to this report.