(Greenfield, Iowa) – A jury in the case of an Adair County man arrested in April, 2025, on Monday (March 30th), found him guilty of 1st Degree Murder and Willfull Injury Causing Bodily Injury, in connection with the death of Carlos Garcia Escalona-Mendoza. Escalona-Mendoza died after being stabbed with a knife from a kitchen. A second person in the home where the incident took place in Greenfield, was injured, but survived. The verdict came one-week after the trial began, and just one-hour after the jury began their deliberations, Monday (March 30th). Vega-Blanco’s sentencing date has not yet been set.
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As we previously reported, when authorities arrived on the scene at 201 NE 4th Street in Greenfield on April 19, 2025, they found Carlos Garcia Escalona-Mendoza was laying on the kitchen floor and being attended to by medics with the Adair County Ambulance. Despite their efforts, Escalona-Mendoza died at the residence.
Occupants of the household informed law enforcement the suspect was Vega-Blanco, and they directed authorities to the location of the knife Blanco allegedly used to stab Mendoza. The incident happened when Blanco became upset and got a knife from the kitchen. A resident – identified as Jendys Escalona-Mendoza, tried to take the knife away from Vega-Blanco, but he pushed Jendys, who fell backward, and Vega-Blanco allegedly swung the knife at him, causing a laceration to Jendys Mendoza’ abdomen.
Carlos Escalona approached Vega-Blanco, who then allegedly used the knife to stab Carlos in the chest, causing fatal wounds. The other occupants of the home attempted to tackle Vega-Blanco and were able to wrestle the knife away from him, then hid it, so he couldn’t access it again. Those same occupants restrained Vega-Blanco until law enforcement arrived on the scene.
