A man has been charged in the death of a University of Wisconsin Milwaukee student.

Eighteen-year-old Lauren Aljubouri was strangled in her Milwaukee apartment last Saturday.

Now, her boyfriend is charged with murder.

Late Monday afternoon, first degree, reckless homicide charges were filed against 18-year-old Eric Tavulares for taking the life of his girlfriend.

He faces up to 60 years in prison.

Investigators say he admitted he strangled her in their apartment in the 2400 block of Frederick Avenue, south of the UWM campus.

Aljubouri returned home Friday night and started watching the movie "Natural Born Killers" with Tavulares inside their east side apartment building. He told detectives he had seen the movie 10-20 times.

It's a violent movie that includes a sex scene that leads to strangulation.

The couple switched off the movie and went to the bedroom, according to details in the criminal complaint. Tavulares told investigators he had a mental switch and he started choking Aljubouri. He says when realized what he was doing, he stopped.

He says he even attempted CPR, but it was too late. When officers arrived at the apartment building, he apparently said, "I did it. I can't believe it. I did it." He then described in detailed how he choked her.

Monday, one of Aljubouri's favorite teachers remembered the promising, talented young artist. "We need more non-conformists like Lauren Aljubouri," Arrowhead High School art teacher Matt Luebke said.

Click on the link under related content to see an interview with Matt Luebke.

With a mentor's pride, Luebke showed TODAY'S TMJ4 some of Aljubouri's work, including the unfinished piece she was working on when she graduated, and an abstract self-portrait.

"She had it, she was very creative," Luebke said.

Aljubouri planned to follow her passion at UWM's Peck School of the Arts with aspirations of becoming a teacher herself. Anxious to move on, Aljubouri graduated Arrowhead High School in January, a semester early.

"She did it because she was done with high school. She learned what she needed to learn here and she was ready to go off into the world," Luebke said.

Aljubouri's younger sister said Lauren looked at life with an artist's eye. "She was very inspired by anything really that looks interesting. She'll make her only little way on something," Brittany Aljubouri said.

UWM administrators sent out an e-mail to faculty Monday, explaining what happened and expressing sympathy to Aljubouri's friends and family.

The suspects' family isn't saying anything about Eric Tavulares. But they did have a brief message Monday for Lauren's family. "Our hearts are all broken," said Liz Tavulares.

Eric's sister read from a statement as she struggled to keep her composure. "Lauren was a beautiful woman who we all cared about and we will all miss her very much," Liz Tavulares said.

Eric's sister wants Lauren's family to know this; "From our entire family our deepest heartfelt sympathies our thoughts and our prayers are with Lauren and her family."