Background: News footage of police activity outside the Kenosha, Wis., house where a woman was found dead on April 1 (WISN). Inset: Marckus Plaza (City of Kenosha Police Department).
Police in Wisconsin are searching for a man suspected of killing his estranged wife in her home.
A warrant was issued for 33-year-old Marckus Plaza, who police said stabbed his estranged wife in her Kenosha, Wisconsin, home while her children were there. According to a criminal complaint posted by the Kenosha County District Attorney’s Office, the woman, who was not identified by name, was on the phone with her friend on Wednesday morning. The friend called the police after hearing a person she believed was Plaza, the woman’s estranged husband, “getting physical with her.”
When officers from the Kenosha Police Department arrived at the home, Plaza answered the door and identified himself as “Allen.” He then allegedly shut the door in the officers’ faces. The officers went around to the back of the home and looked through a basement window. Police said they saw Plaza “dragging a body,” writing that the body was his wife’s.
After the officers forced their way inside the home, Plaza fled the scene. The officers located the woman, who had a knife plunged into her left eye. She was pronounced dead.
According to the complaint, police found blood throughout the home and signs of a struggle. They soon found the couple’s two young children, one of whom was days away from turning 5 years old. When officers spoke to the 5-year-old boy, police said he told them, “Daddy hit Mommy.” The younger child was found with blood on his clothes.
Investigators continued to speak to the 5-year-old after bringing him to the Children’s Advocacy Center. The little boy told investigators, “Momma got dead,” adding, “Daddy use a knife, my daddy do it.”
Plaza remains at large. The DA’s office has charged him with first-degree intentional homicide, and they asked the public to contact the Kenosha Police Department with any information about his whereabouts. Authorities cautioned the public not to approach Plaza.
