Investigators say two young children were in the home, while blood evidence and a damaged phone added to the first account of Makayla Plaza’s death.
KENOSHA, Wis. — The first official version of what happened inside a Kenosha home on April 1 depends heavily on what officers saw at the scene, what physical evidence they collected and what one of the couple’s young children later told police and child advocates.
That evidence now sits at the center of the prosecution of 33-year-old Marckus Plaza, who is accused of killing his estranged wife, 28-year-old Makayla Plaza. Prosecutors say the homicide happened while the couple’s children were inside the house. The criminal complaint does not offer a broad family history or long explanation of motive. Instead, it builds the case piece by piece: a friend’s phone call to police, officers at the front door, a body seen through a basement window, blood and signs of struggle in the home, and statements from a child who said his father used a knife.
The complaint says police were sent to the home at about 6:20 a.m. after a friend of Makayla Plaza called and reported that she believed Makayla’s estranged husband was getting physical with her during a phone conversation. When officers arrived, they say, Marckus Plaza answered the door and introduced himself as “Allen.” He then shut the door, according to the complaint. One officer moved behind the house and looked into a basement window. The filing says the officer saw Plaza dragging a body that police later identified as Makayla Plaza. Officers forced entry, but prosecutors say Plaza fled over a fence before he could be arrested. From an evidence standpoint, that sequence matters because it places officers at the house while the event was still unfolding and gives prosecutors an eyewitness account from law enforcement before the body was formally recovered.
Once inside, officers found Makayla Plaza in the basement. The complaint says she was dead and had a knife in her left eye. Investigators also reported blood inside the residence, signs of a struggle and a cellphone bent in half. Those details may become important later because they suggest a violent confrontation that moved through more than one point inside the home. The complaint also places the children in the basement area. It says one child, identified by initials, was found there with Makayla Plaza and told officers, “Daddy hit mommy.” A younger child was found with blood on his clothing. Later, at the Children’s Advocacy Center, the older child gave a more detailed account, according to the complaint, saying, “Momma got dead,” then adding, “daddy use a knife, my dad do it.” Investigators also wrote that the child said the knife was put in his mother’s forehead and that he saw something red on her face.
Even before the children’s formal interviews, prosecutors say there was other evidence pointing to the moments before police arrived. WISN reported from court that investigators described a recorded call with Makayla Plaza’s friend in which Makayla could be heard shouting “help,” “let go of me” and “I’m sorry.” In that same account, prosecutors said Marckus Plaza could be heard saying, “Nope. It’s too late for that.” The public record does not yet explain whether that recording will be introduced at a preliminary hearing or trial, how complete it is, or whether a defense attorney will dispute who is speaking. Still, it adds a second kind of evidence to the early file: not just what officers later saw, but what another witness may have heard in real time. Together, the phone call, the basement observations, the blood evidence and the child statements form the backbone of the case as it stands.
The investigation did not stop at the house. Police spent about 30 hours looking for Plaza after he fled, then found him April 2 in the basement of a salon near 75th Street and 23rd Avenue. During the arrest, authorities said, he injured himself with a knife and two officers suffered minor injuries. That search, while dramatic, may be less important at trial than the home evidence gathered on April 1. What could matter more are the legal questions that follow from child witnesses. Prosecutors later added two felony counts of causing mental harm to a child, according to local court coverage. The case also now includes resisting or obstructing an officer and a misdemeanor entry count. Bond was raised to $2 million, and FOX6 reported that Plaza was due back in court in May for a competency hearing.
In many homicide prosecutions, early public attention goes first to the arrest. In this one, the deeper story may be the evidence trail left inside the house and the words investigators say a child used to describe what he saw. Makayla Plaza’s mother and boyfriend later spoke in court about fear, abuse and loss, but the charging narrative itself stays tightly focused on observable facts: where the body was found, what officers reported, what the children said and what objects inside the home appeared damaged. Prosecutors still have to prove those allegations in court, and the defense will have a chance to challenge every part of that sequence. But at this stage, the case is defined less by theory than by a set of immediate, concrete observations that began in a basement and moved outward into a homicide prosecution.
Plaza’s case remains pending while he is jailed on a $2 million bond, and the next expected court milestone is a May competency hearing. The evidence file continued to center on witness statements and what police documented inside the home.
Author note: Last updated April 22, 2026.