Jake Haro has been sentenced to 25 years to life in California state prison for the murder of his seven-month-old son Emmanuel, a child the family originally claimed was kidnapped in August, setting off a sweeping missing person search.
Haro, 32, dabbed at tears in a Riverside County courthouse on Monday as the judge read out the sentence for the “senseless assault and murder” that claimed Emmanuel’s life.
“While no sentence can possible vindicate the loss of innocence and life at the hands of Mr. Haro, a man who was supposed to protect these precious and defenseless children against evil and harm, the sentence here is the most the court can do to ensure that as much justice is done as possible,” the judge said.
Emmanuel’s maternal grandmother, Mary Beushausen, told the court the baby’s death had “destroyed my whole family.” She faulted the justice system for giving Haro a “second chance” after a 2023 conviction for willful cruelty against his child from a previous marriage, which resulted in a sentence of 180 days in a sheriff’s work-release program.
“He had a second chance,” Beushausen said. “My daughter didn’t have a chance with him. His children didn’t have a second chance. I think the judge that let him go should be here sitting with him.”
Haro pleaded guilty to second-degree murder last month.
Emmanuel’s remains have not been found.
Rebecca Haro, Emmanuel’s mother, has pleaded not guilty to murder and is scheduled for a settlement conference in January 2026.
Initially, the Haros claimed Rebecca had been attacked and Emmanuel had been kidnapped in San Bernardino County from the parking lot of a sporting goods store on August 14.
As police searched for Emmanuel and interviewed his parents, the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department found “inconsistencies” in Rebecca’s account of the disappearance.
A lawyer for the family blamed the inconsistencies on the stress of Emmanuel’s disappearance.
Police later searched the Haro home and reviewed surveillance footage from surrounding areas and social workers removed a 2-year-old from the couple’s home.
Both parents were arrested in late August and initially pleaded not guilty.
In jail, Jake Haro allegedly told a prison informant he killed the baby and put his body into a trash can at the family’s Southern California home, according to a report obtained by News Nation.
Alongside Haro’s 25 years to life in prison sentence, he is also facing six years in prison on a child abuse charge; 8 months on a charge of being a felon in possession of a firearm; and 180 days as punishment for filing a false police report.
Haro also owes a restitution fine of $10,000.
