Updated March 23, 2026
Rebecca Haro, accused along with her husband Jake Haro of murdering Baby Emmanuel, is due back in court once again for another settlement conference.
In October 2025, Jake shocked the true crime ecosystem when he threw himself on the mercy of the court. In front of a Riverside County judge, he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.
In November a judge sentenced Jake to 25-years-to-life. The convicted baby killer has begun serving his sentence at the California Men’s Colony in San Luis Obispo. We don’t know yet if Haro has disclosed what happened to the baby’s body.
It also remains to be seen if Rebecca Haro will continue to insist she’s not guilty now that her husband has come clean, or if at the conference this week she’ll attempt to reach a plea bargain.
Prior post:
With a father like Jake Haro, it’s unlikely baby Emmanuel Haro ever stood a chance.
In 2018, Jake savagely beat his ten-month-old daughter Carolina, leaving her with a fractured skull and other horrific injuries. As seen below, there’s controversy swirling around whether this prior case should have resulted in Jake being imprisoned.
But Jake wasn’t imprisoned, and now he and his current wife Rebecca Haro have been charged with murdering their seven-month-old son Emmanuel, whose remains have not been found, and with concocting a fake kidnapping to cover up the crime.
On September 4th, the Haros appeared in Riverside County Superior Court and entered “not guilty” pleas. They are being held in separate facilities pending trial in the case, which has attracted international attention.
I’ve been intensively investigating the baby Emmanuel case and the prior case involving newborn Carolina – visiting key locations, interviewing witnesses, and reviewing court records.
This blog is your source for images and information and I’ll continue to update it.
THE HAROS ARE ACCUSED OF MURDERING EMMANUEL
On August 26th, Jake Mitchell Haro, 32, and his wife Rebecca Marie Haro, 41, were arraigned in Riverside County Superior Court on charges that they murdered seven-month-old Emmanuel and staged a fake kidnapping to cover up the crime.
Under the murder charges, the Haros could face the death penalty, although this would be largely symbolic – California hasn’t executed anyone since 2006.
The Haros are being held at different facilities in Riverside County, the county where officials believe the murders occurred. Jake Haro is under protective custody.
On August 27th, authorities held a press conference in which they fingered Jake Haro as the primary abuser of baby Emmanuel but said the abuse took place over a long period of time, suggesting at a minimum that Rebecca Haro was an enabler.
But many details about the case haven’t been revealed, leading to unconfirmed reports, for example, that Jake Haro confessed to a jailhouse snitch.
The biggest gap in the case is that Emmanuel’s remains haven’t been found, despite rumors circulating online.
CHILD ABUSE RELATED TO THE HAROS WAS REPORTED IN MORENO VALLEY
Another twist that officials are tightlipped about involves a child abuse case implicating the Haros that’s tied to a home in the 23000 block of Cottonwood Avenue in Moreno Valley. We don’t know much except that this case is currently being investigated by the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office.
AUTHORITIES SEARCHED FOR BABY EMMANUEL
Another twist happened on August 24th, when authorities searched rugged terrain off the shoulder of Highway 60 in the Moreno Valley area. Cadaver dogs were brought in to help find Emmanuel’s body, but nothing turned up.
Reporters at the scene spotted Jake Haro, wearing a jailhouse jumpsuit, appearing to assist law enforcement with the search. But it’s not clear if he was truly assisting or if the endeavor was based on false information he gave authorities.
Meanwhile, Rebecca continues to insist that baby Emmanuel was kidnapped. Most of us in the legal world believe that Rebecca will eventually shift her story and claim she was being manipulated and victimized by her husband, but this remains to be seen.
JAKE BRUTALLY ATTACKED A NEWBORN BABY
Jake is no stranger to violence against a baby. In 2018, when Jake was living in Hemet with a prior wife, Vanessa Haro nee Avina, he viciously attacked their ten-month-old daughter Carolina.
According to court records I reviewed, Vanessa left the baby girl alone with Jake for about an hour. When she returned home and realized the baby was hurt, she went to a local hospital.
The newborn, near death, was transferred to Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital.
Jake claimed that while he was bathing the baby, he accidentally dropped her chest-first onto a sink divider. Later, Jake tried to blame Vanessa, claiming she must have hurt the child.
As the newborn, intubated and in critical condition, was examined by forensic pediatricians, they found that the horrific injuries didn’t fit with Jake’s story.
Instead, the doctors discovered a litany of severe injuries consistent with a baby being violently squeezed and shaken.
According to DA Hestrin, baby Carolina suffered life-altering injuries. “She’s still alive today,” said the DA. “But she’s permanently bedridden.”
In 2023, Jake was convicted of willful child injury, a felony. Despite the severe injuries Jake inflicted on his tiny daughter, Judge Dwight Moore sentenced Jake to 180 days in a work release program.
At the August 27th press conference, DA Hestrin was adamant about blaming Judge Moore for letting Jake remain free and able to harm baby Emmanuel.
What Hestrin didn’t mention is that Jake violated his probation in 2024 and was charged by the DA’s office, but the DA’s office didn’t object to Jake being set free on bail. The DA’s office also didn’t object to Jake obtaining multiple continuances.
So far I’ve written two articles for the Long Beach Post about these systemic failures:
https://lbpost.com/news/crime/baby-emmanuel-da-blames-judge-didnt-oppose-bail-jake-haro
https://lbpost.com/news/crime/emmanuel-haro-judge-dwight-moore-no-prison-time-jake-haro/
REBECCA CLAIMED EMMANUEL WAS KIDNAPPED
On the evening of August 14, 2025, Rebecca reported to police that Emmanuel had been kidnapped while she was changing his diaper in the parking lot of a Big 5 Sporting Goods store in Yucaipa, California.
Rebecca said that while her teenage son was playing football at a nearby park, she drove to the Big 5 store to buy him a mouthguard.
According to Rebecca, in the parking lot, as she laid Emmanuel down on a seat to change his diaper, someone struck her.
“I was going to get the diaper and somebody said, ‘hola,’ and I don’t remember anything since,” Rebecca told a reporter from television station KTLA 5. “I woke up here on the floor and I didn’t see Emmanuel.”
Rebecca, sporting a black eye and seeming to cry, said that she didn’t see her attacker and had no idea who he was or where he went.
In the same interview, Jake pleaded for his son’s safe return. “Whoever took my son, please return him,” he told KTLA. “We just want him back. We won’t do anything to you. Just give us our son.”
Because a child was involved, the Special Investigations Division of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department, a unit that handles crimes against children, took charge of the case. Assisted by Riverside County sheriff’s deputies and a K9 unit, they initiated a widespread search..
But as investigators questioned Rebecca, they found “inconsistences” in her story. Rebecca stopped cooperating with authorities and refused to take a polygraph test.
Reports on Reddit allege that the day before she reported Emmanuel kidnapped, Rebecca told Big 5 employees that her car had been broken into and asked whether the parking lot had security cameras.
LOCAL COUPLE TURNED BABY KILLERS?
Rebecca, whose maiden name was Rebecca Beushausen, grew up in the Palm Springs region.
Her distraught mother Mary Beushausen told me in a phone call on August 25th: “I think the worst has happened.”
When I asked Mary if she thought that Jake did to baby Emmanuel what he did to his daughter in 2018, Mary replied, “Of course.”
Jake, nine years younger than his wife, told a reporter from Southern California News Group that he attended high school in Banning and played on the football team.
Jake appears in several team photos and newspaper writeups about the Banning Broncos from 2009.
According to a neighbor of Jake and Rebecca’s in Cabezon, Jake formerly worked at the nearby Arrowhead water bottling plant.
A strange twist in the case involves Rebecca’s brother James Beushausen, who was convicted of murdering his girlfriend in 2017. At trial, James claimed she shot herself, but the jury didn’t buy it.
Now Rebecca Haro nee Beushausen is charged with murdering baby Emmanuel but Rebecca claiming that her baby was kidnapped.
A COMMUNITY IN SHOCK
From the outset, people in San Bernardino and Riverside counties, and over time nationwide, voiced doubt about Jake and Rebecca’s kidnapping story.
Concerned citizens placed signs and stuffed animals outside the gate of the Haro home and held a candlelight vigil.
On August 22nd, authorities arrested Jake and Rebecca at their house in Cabazon.
Investigators also searched the house and seized Jake’s vehicle. Reports online claim that investigators found bloodstains, but this hasn’t been confirmed.
“Based on the evidence, investigators determined a kidnapping in Yucaipa did not occur,” said the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s office in a public statement. “It is believed Emmanuel is deceased and the search to recover his remains is ongoing.”
People in the community told me they hope justice will be served.
“We’re all heartbroken,” said Nancy Beltran, a neighbor whose son used to work with Jake. “I’ve been sick to my stomach.”
Cynthia Viruete, a resident of Hemet, where Jake lived when he attacked his newborn daughter, said the system failed baby Emmanuel.
“Because the dad has a history of abuse, he should not have been allowed to be around the baby,” said Viruete.
