Jake Haro, a 32-year-old man from Cabazon, was sentenced yesterday to 25 years to life in prison after pleading guilty to the murder of his 7-month-old son, Emmanuel, the Riverside County District Attorney's Office reported. The father was charged with second-degree murder, assault on a child causing death, and making a false police report; Haro's change of plea came without a plea agreement and was made directly to the court during an October 16th felony settlement conference.
According to a Hoodline article, the situation surrounding the admission is steeped in prior instances of child abuse, as Jake Haro was already on probation for previously abusing another of his infant children. Further, the admission occurred in the absence of any discovered remains of the boy. Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin was quoted in an interview with KTLA criticizing past leniency towards Haro, calling it "outrageous" given the defendant's history of child abuse. Concurrently, Rebecca Haro, Jake's wife, is maintaining her not guilty plea with her next hearing scheduled for January of next year.
Investigators found that the Haros originally claimed their infant was abducted during an attack in a Yucaipa parking lot, a notion that was later proven to be fabricated, leading to the couple's arrest on August 22. In a statement provided to KTLA, the District Attorney's Office emphasized that a "plea to the court" is entered by defendants who admit to all charged counts, leaving it up to the judge to decide the sentence.
Although Jake Haro's case has been brought to a close in what one might call a grim conclusion, the disappearance of Emmanuel remains a lingering question mark, and there is no rest for the prosecutors as the case against his co-defendant moves forward, the District Attorney’s Office said. The narrative of the Haros' televised appeals for Emanuel's safe return stands in stark contrast to the cruel reality of the situation that has unfolded — Haro's sentence also includes an additional six-year term for the prior child abuse case and another eight months for being a felon in possession of a firearm, with all sentences ordered to run consecutively.
