Miguel Lorenzo-Baltazar Verdict
On April 2, 2018, Miguel Lorenzo-Baltazar was convicted by a jury of Murder in the First Degree, a class A felony. Lorenzo-Baltazar was convicted of shooting and killing Jeffrey Mercado in the 1800 block of Oakland Avenue in Des Moines on July 28, 2017. Lorenzo-Baltazar will be sentenced on April 17, 2018 and faces a term of life in prison without the possibility of parole. The defendant was prosecuted by attorneys of the Polk County Attorney's Office Drug and Gang Bureau with the assistance of legal assistants Lindsay Morris and Laurie Bence.