Police say officers arrived for a welfare check, saw a body being dragged through a basement window and later spent 30 hours searching for the suspect.

KENOSHA, Wis. — A Kenosha man is charged with killing his estranged wife after police said they were called to the family home for a welfare check early April 1, found the woman dead in the basement and spent more than a day searching for him before his arrest.

Prosecutors say the case now includes a first-degree intentional homicide charge, later-added counts tied to harm to the couple’s children, and new scrutiny over the final minutes before officers forced their way into the home. The woman was identified in later court and police updates as 28-year-old Makayla Plaza. Investigators say two young children were inside the house during the attack, and one later described the killing to officers and child advocates. The case moved quickly from an emergency call to a warrant, a citywide search and then a court appearance with bond set at $2 million.

According to the criminal complaint, Kenosha police were dispatched at about 6:20 a.m. April 1 to 7428 22nd Ave. after a woman identified in court papers as a friend of Makayla Plaza called for help. The friend told police she had been on the phone with Makayla and believed Makayla’s estranged husband, 33-year-old Marckus Luke Plaza, was becoming physical with her. Officers Sawyer and Courtier went to the house and knocked. Prosecutors say Marckus Plaza answered, identified himself as “Allen,” then shut the door on the officers. One officer moved to the back of the house and looked through a basement window. There, the complaint says, the officer saw Plaza dragging a body. Officers forced entry, but prosecutors say Plaza ran, jumped a fence into a neighboring yard and disappeared before officers could catch him.

Inside the basement, officers found Makayla Plaza dead. The complaint says she had a knife in her left eye. Police also reported blood throughout the residence, signs of a struggle and a cellphone bent in half. Two minors were found in the home. Court records say one child told officers, “Daddy hit mommy,” and was found in the basement near Makayla Plaza. The younger child was located in basement clothing with blood on his clothes, according to the complaint. Investigators later interviewed the older child at the Children’s Advocacy Center. The child told them, “Momma got dead,” and said, “Daddy use a knife, my dad do it.” The complaint says the child also told investigators the knife had been put in his mother’s forehead and described seeing something red on her face. Prosecutors have not publicly laid out a full minute-by-minute account of the attack, and the public record does not answer how long Makayla Plaza had been dead before officers reached her.

The case drew wider attention as police and reporters identified Makayla Plaza as a former member of the Kenosha County Sheriff’s Office. At a police briefing after the arrest, Kenosha Police Chief Patrick Patton said officers had been asked to deal with “some of the hardest things individuals should ever have to see.” Local television reports later added more detail from prosecutors, including that investigators said a recorded phone call captured Makayla Plaza screaming for help and saying “let go of me” and “I’m sorry,” while a man prosecutors identified as Marckus Plaza said, “Nope. It’s too late for that.” Court records reviewed by local media also showed Makayla Plaza had sought a temporary restraining order in February, but that request was denied. In a separate earlier case from February, prosecutors charged Marckus Plaza with misdemeanor disorderly conduct, battery and publishing a private representation without consent after an incident involving Makayla Plaza’s boyfriend.

After the April 1 killing, a judge first issued a $750,000 cash warrant while Plaza remained at large. Police said the search lasted about 30 hours. On April 2, officers found him in the basement of a salon near 75th Street and 23rd Avenue, about a block from the homicide scene. Police issued a shelter-in-place order for that area during the search. Authorities said Plaza injured himself with a knife as officers tried to arrest him, and two officers suffered minor injuries in the struggle and were taken to a hospital, then released. By April 6, prosecutors had expanded the case. Along with first-degree intentional homicide and resisting or obstructing an officer, local court coverage said Plaza also faced two felony counts of causing mental harm to a child and a misdemeanor entry count. A court commissioner set bond at $2 million, and FOX6 reported Plaza was due back in court in May for a competency hearing.

The first public hearing brought out grief from people close to Makayla Plaza as the criminal case shifted from search to prosecution. Her mother told the court she believed Plaza should never again see the couple’s children. Makayla Plaza’s boyfriend, Korey Williams, said in court that he had tried to help her escape what he called abuse and mistreatment. Those remarks gave the first fuller public picture of the family around the homicide, even as major parts of the case remain unresolved in open court. Prosecutors still have not publicly explained whether more witnesses heard the confrontation inside the house, whether additional forensic testing changed the timeline, or whether plea discussions are even possible at this early stage. For now, the central allegations remain those laid out in the complaint: an emergency call, officers at the door, a body seen through a basement window, and a suspect found the next day after a search that kept part of Kenosha on alert.

For now, Plaza remains jailed on a $2 million bond and a May competency hearing ahead, while prosecutors continued building the homicide case around witness statements, the emergency call and physical evidence from the home.

Author note: Last updated April 22, 2026.