The father of missing baby Emmanuel Haro has pleaded guilty to murder in Riverside County.
Jake Haro pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the death of his 7-month-old son, Emmanuel, several weeks after the boy’s parents falsely reported him missing in Riverside County.
Haro appeared in a Riverside courtroom on Thursday, where he changed his plea from not guilty to guilty. He also pleaded guilty to filing a false police report and assault of a child under 8, according to the Riverside County district attorney’s office.
Rebecca Haro has pleaded not guilty to murder and remains in custody. She is scheduled to appear in court Nov. 3 for her preliminary hearing. Jake Haro is scheduled to be sentenced at the same hearing.
Haro, 32, was arrested with Emmanuel’s mother, Rebecca Haro, 41, in connection with the boy’s death in August. Initially, they claimed he was kidnapped after an assailant attacked Rebecca Haro.
Seven-month-old Emmanuel Haro, who was reported missing Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025, in Yucaipa, Calif. San Bernardino Sheriff’s Department
(San Bernadino Sheriff’s Department)
According to the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, Rebecca Haro said she was attacked in a Yucaipa parking lot Aug. 14 outside a Big 5 store while changing Emmanuel’s diaper. But investigators said there were inconsistencies in her initial statement, and when they confronted her about those details, they said she stopped cooperating.
Authorities arrested the parents at their Cabazon home a week after they reported their son missing.
In the first weeks of the investigation, search teams scoured an isolated field in Moreno Valley. They were accompanied by Jake Haro, who wore a jail jumpsuit. Authorities did not find the boy, officials said. The infant’s remains have not been located.
As the search for Emmanuel was underway, focus shifted from Rebecca to both parents after it came to light that Jake Haro had a previous conviction for child abuse.
In 2018, Jake Haro and his then wife were interviewed by Hemet police after their baby was examined at a local hospital, according to a police affidavit seeking an arrest warrant. The unidentified girl had a skull fracture, several healing fractures to her ribs, a brain hemorrhage, swelling in the neck and a healing tibia fracture in her leg.
A doctor who examined the child told police the girl had “intracranial hemorrhage, brain injury, cervical spine injury and retinal hemorrhages” and other injuries, the affidavit said.
Jake Haro told police that he accidentally dropped the baby into a center divider in their kitchen sink while giving her a bath, but the doctor said the injuries did not fit that narrative.
The couple blamed each other, according to the officer’s affidavit. In 2023, Jake Haro was convicted of felony willful child endangerment and his then-wife was convicted of misdemeanor willful harm to a child, court records show.
When Jake and Rebecca Haro reported Emmanuel missing, Riverside County authorities followed up and removed a 2-year-old child from their home.
This story originally appeared on LA Times