Baby Emmanuel Haro’s parents plead not guilty to murder in child’s disappearance

The parents of missing baby Emmanuel Haro pleaded not guilty to a single count of murder each Thursday, three weeks after the child’s mother claimed he vanished during an attack.

Emmanuel’s parents, Jake Haro, 32, and Rebecca Haro, 41, were charged last week in Riverside County Superior Court on one count each of murder. They also were charged with making a false police report, a misdemeanor. Riverside County prosecutors are asking that they be held in lieu of $1-million bail.

Authorities say the couple faked the 7-month-old’s disappearance and the infant is presumed dead.

At their arraignment Thursday, the boy’s parents said few words, sitting on opposite sides of the courtroom. Jake Haro wore a red county jail uniform and Rebecca Haro wore a dark blue suit.

Both parents were represented by their respective defense attorneys — Jake Haro by the public defender’s office and Rebecca Haro by attorney Jeff Moore, who was appointed by the court and previously defended David and Louise Turpin, the Inland Empire couple who tortured and abused 12 of their children and ultimately were sentenced to 25 years to life in prison.

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Attorneys for both parents declined to comment about the case Thursday.

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 Aug. 21. Sheriff’s investigators are now focused on finding Emmanuel’s remains. In the first weeks of the investigation, search teams scoured an isolated field in Moreno Valley. They were accompanied by Jake Haro but did not find anything, officials said.

The case may be more challenging to prosecute without a body, but it won’t be impossible, said Kenneth Gray, a retired FBI agent and senior criminal justice lecturer at the University of New Haven.

“Police have not finished their investigation,” Gray said. “Finding a body is one part of that ... but they apparently feel confident enough to move forward with charging them with murder at this point.”

Since the family claimed Emmanuel had disappeared, the case has captured the fascination of true-crime mystery fans, who have filled gaps with rumor and speculation, particularly since Jake Haro’s past conviction for child abuse resurfaced.

Among those at the courthouse Thursday for the hearing was Geena Ayala, who wore a black T-shirt with a picture of Emmanuel surrounded by clouds and angel wings. She handed out fliers advocating for new legislation to prevent children from living in the home of convicted child abusers.

“I’m a mother of two. My kids are grown but I have two young granddaughters, and if I thought for one minute my child was out there, dead or alive in the cold and alone, I just couldn’t take it,” Ayala said.

Recently, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco chastised the public for organizing search parties and traipsing through areas of potential interest in the investigation.

“There should be no one out there looking for baby Emmanuel except for us,” Bianco said. “All you’re going to do is complicate things in the future.”