Apr. 2, 2026 6:45p
(WGTD)---Marckus Plaza was found hiding in the basement of a Kenosha business Thursday afternoon, a little over a day after he allegedly fatally stabbed his estranged wife in the couple's home about a block away.
At a news conference Thursday evening, Kenosha Police Chief Patrick Patton said investigators had developed information indicating that Plaza remained close by. Officers searched the basement of a salon at 75th St. and 23rd Ave. and confronted Plaza who tried to harm himself with a box cutter, he said. Two officers suffered minor wounds as they made the arrest.
Plaza is in stable condition at a local hospital while the two officers were treated and released.
Patton said he didn't know how long Plaza had been hiding in the basement or whether officers had searched the business any earlier in the manhunt.
A day earlier, Plaza had run out of his home as the two officers who were initially dispatched to the residence on a report of a possible assault focused on aiding the woman, 28 year-old Makayla Plaza, and making sure the couple's two children, ages four and two, were safe. The two children were in the home when the stabbing occurred.
The woman was pronounced dead at the scene. The children weren't hurt.
The search for Plaza resulted in a four-block area west of the 22nd Ave. home being cordoned off for several hours Wednesday. Later in the day, police searched a home in the 7300 blk. of 31st Ave. that was said to be associated with Plaza but came up empty handed.
At the news conference, Patton confirmed that Plaza had been arrested in February on misdemeanor charges of battery and disorderly conduct in a case that involved someone other than his wife. A criminal complaint has yet to be filed in that case.
Records also indicated that Makayla sought a restraining order against her husband in February but later moved to dismiss the action, checking boxes on a form indicating she felt safe and had not been pressured to drop the request. Court Commissioner Bill Michel granted the dismissal request at a hearing.
WGTD has requested a transcript of that hearing.
Plaza is expected to make an initial appearance on the murder charge Monday afternoon.
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