A Milwaukee woman's life came to a tragic end earlier this month at a local motel, and now her husband stands charged with her murder. Alicia Machnik, 29, was found dead at the Port Motel with a gunshot wound to her head. Lance Devon White, also 29, has been charged with first-degree intentional homicide, as reported by FOX6 News.
On the afternoon of January 14, a motel cleaner, upon finding no answer at the door after returning a few hours following a cleaning request, discovered Machnik lying lifeless on the bed, according to a criminal complaint obtained by WISN. Surveillance footage captured White leaving the room that morning, just minutes after the cleaner's first visit. White was later spotted, disheveled and seeming "off," by family members who took him to the hospital where police eventually arrested him.
Further investigation revealed that White's identification cards were found in the motel room, and a single bullet casing along with a bullet, reportedly with blood on it, were also located in the room. White had been identified leaving the Port Motel on the morning of the homicide and no one else was seen entering or leaving until the cleaner discovered the body. These details paint a grim picture of the last hours of Machnik's life as reported by Law&Crime.
According to the account White gave to the police after his arrest, he claimed that the shooting occurred when Machnik feared for their lives with the impending release of her child's father from prison. "Her child's father was getting out of prison in eleven months and was going to kill them," White told detectives, stating that Machnik requested him to shoot her "at the spot where his name was tattooed on her face," WISN revealed about the gruesome details leading to the dispatch of the fatal shot. White is now awaiting his court appearance as this case unfolds.
The broader circumstances of the relationship between White and Machnik point to a tumultuous and unstable period leading up to the violent incident. Machnik's mother mentioned to law enforcement that her daughter "spiraled out of control ever since" they were married for about a year. An individual believed to be Machnik's on-and-off boyfriend of five years detailed to police their erratic lifestyle of staying in motels and his financial support through money transfers. He also noted he had access to her Uber account, which showed a trip from the crime scene to another motel around the time of the homicide, which was connected back to White by hotel employees, as documented by Law&Crime.
