Inset, left to right: Lance D. White (Milwaukee County Jail) and Alicia Machnik (Facebook). Background: The motel where White allegedly killed Machnik (WISN).
A 29-year-old man in Wisconsin is accused of killing a woman inside a motel room, allegedly shooting her in the head and claiming he did so because the victim asked him to fire "at the spot" where she had his name tattooed on her forehead.
Lance Devon White was taken into custody last week and charged with one count of first-degree intentional homicide in the slaying of 29-year-old Alicia Machnik, records show.
According to a probable cause affidavit obtained by Law&Crime, officers with the Milwaukee Police Department responded to the Port Motel on Appleton Avenue at around 2:38 p.m. on Jan. 14, regarding a "dead on entry" call. Emergency medical personnel arrived on the scene first and found Machnik lying supine on the bed. She was pronounced dead at the scene.
Investigators observed what appeared to be a single gunshot wound to her upper right forehead with an exit wound in the back of her head.
Also inside the room, police said they located White's state identification card, birth certificate, debit card, and social security card.
A motel employee told police he had been to the room at around 11:30 a.m. and spoke with Machnik, who said she would be staying an additional night. The same employee returned to the room at around 2:38 p.m. and knocked, but received no response. He let himself in using the master key and found Machnik dead and bleeding from the head, the document states.
Surveillance footage showed White leaving the motel room at 11:28 a.m., three hours before Machnik's body was found. No one else entered or left the room after White's exit, according to surveillance footage.
Machnik's mother told police that her daughter and White had been married a year earlier and that Machnik had "spiraled out of control ever since."
A man who identified himself as Machnik's on-and-off boyfriend for the last five years told police he often sent Machnik money because she regularly stayed in motels. The man also had access to Machnik's Uber account, and told police that someone used Machnik's account to travel from the motel where Machnik's body was found to another motel on Applebaum Avenue. The app showed that the passenger got into the rideshare car about an hour after Machnik was killed.
An employee at the second motel told police that an individual matching White's description had asked for a room about 4 p.m. that day, but was turned away because he could not provide identification.
Police were able to track White to nearby St. Luke's Hospital, where he was taken into custody without incident.
In a post-Miranda interview, White confirmed that he had been dating Machnik for about a year and would typically stay in motels. He said their relationship had recently reached the point where they just enjoy "getting high together." He also allegedly admitted to shooting Machnik.
"The defendant stated Machnik told him that her child's father was getting out of prison in eleven months and was going to kill them," the affidavit states. "The defendant stated Machnik told him to shoot her at the spot his name is tattooed on her face. The defendant stated that he shot her in the head once, and then fled the room in shock. The defendant stated that after he left the room, he discarded the gun in a sewer near some apartment buildings."
White is scheduled to make his first appearance in court on Wednesday, records show.
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