Police say the accused attacker was the child’s father and the victim’s former boyfriend.
LA CROSSE, Wis. — A woman was holding her 11-month-old daughter when her former boyfriend stabbed her repeatedly outside a La Crosse home, police say, leaving the mother hospitalized and the child physically unharmed.
The May 15 attack has become an attempted homicide case against Ivan Aldair Canchola-Garcia, 28. Police say he targeted the mother of his child after buying a knife at Walmart and later tried to discard evidence at a gas station. The case has focused attention on the victim’s injuries, the child’s presence and the police work that led officers from a south side home to an arrest in Whitestown, Indiana.
First responders arrived shortly after 11:22 p.m. in the 1100 block of 16th Street South after a report of a stabbing. Officers found a woman with several wounds and arranged for her transport to a local hospital. Reports based on the criminal complaint say she had been stabbed in the neck, armpit and shoulder blade. Police did not name her. The child, identified in reports as the daughter of the victim and Canchola-Garcia, was not injured. Police said the attack appeared to be isolated, a term often used when investigators believe the suspect and victim were connected and the public is not facing an ongoing random threat.
The complaint says the attack was not a sudden encounter between strangers. Investigators allege Canchola-Garcia went to Walmart before the stabbing and bought the knife used in the attack. Surveillance footage from the store and license plate reader data helped place him there, according to the complaint. Police say he later arrived at the woman’s home wearing a mask and gloves. The details described by investigators point to planning, including the purchase of a weapon and the use of items that could conceal identity or reduce physical evidence. Prosecutors charged the case as attempted first-degree intentional homicide, one of the most serious allegations available short of homicide itself.
The mother’s condition was described in limited terms. Police said she remained under medical care after the attack, and reports said she was expected to survive. Authorities did not release the full scope of her treatment, the length of her hospital stay or whether she had lasting injuries. The child’s safety was clearer. Reports said the baby was not hurt despite being in the victim’s arms when the stabbing occurred. Investigators have not said whether the baby was examined at a hospital or placed with relatives after the attack. Those details were not included in the public accounts available after the arrest.
Police moved from the home to other locations as they built the case. At a Kwik Trip convenience store, investigators say video showed Canchola-Garcia throwing away the knife, gloves and mask. Officers recovered those items, according to the complaint. The alleged disposal matters because it may support the state’s claim that the attacker knew what he had done and tried to hide the tools used in it. Police also relied on private business cameras, plate readers and witness information. Together, those pieces formed the early record that prosecutors used to seek and support the charge.
A friend’s account added another layer. The complaint says Canchola-Garcia later told a friend, “I did it. I did what I needed to do. I tried to kill her. I went for the neck.” The quote is one of the starkest allegations in the case. Prosecutors may use it to argue intent, while the defense may test how the friend heard it, when it was said and whether the statement was reported accurately. No motive has been fully laid out in the public reports. It is also unknown whether the former couple had an ongoing custody dispute, prior domestic abuse reports or recent contact before the attack.
By the day after the stabbing, the investigation had moved beyond Wisconsin. La Crosse police said Canchola-Garcia was believed to have left the area and possibly traveled out of state. On May 16, law enforcement found him in Whitestown, Indiana, and arrested him on outstanding warrants from Dane County, Wisconsin. Police then worked with the La Crosse County District Attorney’s Office to pursue an arrest warrant connected to the stabbing. The Indiana arrest closed the immediate search for the suspect, but it did not end the investigation into what happened before, during and after the attack.
Canchola-Garcia was later held in La Crosse County on a $1 million bond, according to court reports. He faces attempted first-degree intentional homicide, with reports also noting domestic abuse and use of a dangerous weapon allegations. The charges are allegations, not proof. Under the law, he is presumed innocent unless prosecutors prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt. The high bond reflected the seriousness of the allegations and the fact that police believed he left the state after the attack. The public reports do not state whether he had entered a plea.
The case now sits at the point where emergency facts become courtroom questions. Prosecutors must present admissible evidence, identify witnesses and prove the required intent. Police must preserve video, recovered items and records that support the timeline. The defense may challenge searches, statements, identification and the chain of custody for the knife, mask and gloves. Future hearings could address probable cause, bond terms, discovery and whether the case proceeds toward trial. The public record available so far does not list all upcoming dates.
For neighbors on 16th Street South, the visible part of the case was brief and late at night: emergency vehicles, police activity and a wounded woman taken for treatment. For the victim and child, the effects will last beyond the court file. Police have not released the woman’s name, and officials have not described any services or family placement for the child. The confirmed facts remain narrow but severe: a mother was stabbed multiple times, the baby she held was spared injury and the accused father was arrested the next day in another state.
For now, Canchola-Garcia remains in custody on a $1 million bond as the La Crosse County case continues. The next major step is expected in court, where prosecutors and defense attorneys will begin testing the evidence behind the attempted homicide charge.
Author note: Last updated June 18, 2026.