**Jake Haro Sentenced to 25 Years to Life for Murder of 7-Month-Old Emmanuel Haro**
RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Jake Haro, the father of missing 7-month-old Emmanuel Haro, was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison after pleading guilty to the baby’s murder. In addition to this sentence, Haro received over six years for other offenses, which will run consecutively. The judge noted that Haro is ineligible for probation as he was already on probation for severely abusing another child.
Haro’s sentence also included more than $20,000 in fines and court fees. Prior to sentencing, the defense objected to imposing any fines or fees, arguing that Haro is indigent and represented by a public defender. Prosecutors countered, asserting that the defendant “deserves no leniency.”
Last month, the 32-year-old father pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including second-degree murder, assault causing bodily harm to a child resulting in death, and filing a false police report, according to court records. Haro had previously pleaded not guilty alongside his wife, Rebecca Haro, in September. He was visibly emotional and cried in court while entering his plea on October 16.
Meanwhile, Emmanuel’s mother, 41-year-old Rebecca Haro, pleaded not guilty to an amended complaint in October. A preliminary hearing for her case was scheduled for Monday. The specific details of the amended complaint have not been disclosed, according to Los Angeles ABC affiliate KABC.
During Jake Haro’s sentencing hearing, the baby’s maternal grandmother, Mary Beushausen, addressed the court. “He destroyed my family,” she said. “Everybody in my family, all my children are destroyed by this. He changed my daughter. We don’t know who she is.”
Beushausen added, “He kept my daughter away. I don’t know what he did or how he changed my daughter’s life, but she was never that same person after she went to live with him.” She urged the court to impose a lengthy sentence, stating, “I don’t want to give him another chance.”
Authorities have yet to announce whether Emmanuel’s remains have been located. The infant was reported missing on August 14 at approximately 7:47 p.m. local time after his mother reported being attacked outside a retail store on Yucaipa Boulevard, according to a statement from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Office on August 15.
Initially, Emmanuel’s mother told officials that she was physically assaulted by an unknown male while outside her vehicle changing the baby’s diaper and that she was rendered unconscious. However, investigators later discovered inconsistencies in her statements, which led them to not rule out foul play in Emmanuel’s disappearance.
Both Jake and Rebecca Haro were arrested and charged with the child’s murder on August 22. In August, law enforcement revealed they had a “pretty strong indication” of the location of Emmanuel’s remains and believed the baby was “severely abused over a period of time.”
Jake Haro was even seen assisting authorities in searching a field near the 60 Freeway in Moreno Valley in late August, but no remains were found at that time.
Riverside County District Attorney Michael Hestrin stated during a press conference in August, “The filing in this case reflects our belief that baby Emmanuel was abused over time and eventually succumbed to those injuries.”
Hestrin described Haro as an “experienced child abuser” who should have been imprisoned earlier after abusing another child he had with his ex-wife in 2018. However, a judge at that time granted Haro probation—a decision Hestrin called an “outrageous error in judgment.”
The child in the 2018 case remains bedridden due to the abuse. “If that judge had done his job as he should have, Emmanuel would be alive today,” Hestrin emphasized.
https://abc7chicago.com/post/baby-emmanuels-father-jake-haro-sentenced-25-years-life-7-month-old-sons-murder/18109578/
