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DA: Cabazon toddler ‘severely abused’ over time, causing death
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7-month-old toddler reportedmissing earlier this month in Yucaipa and whom prosecutors believe was killed by his father in Cabazon was “severely abused” to the point of death, Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said Wednesday. “We believe he was abused over time,” Hestrin said during a news briefing Wednesday in downtown Riverside. “We believe Emmanuel was severely abused ... and because of the abuse, he succumbed to those injuries. That’s what we believe.” Jake Mitchell Haro, 32, and Rebecca Renee Haro, 41, of Cabazon are each charged with murder and filing a false police report. They made their initial joint court appearance Tuesday before Superior Court Judge Gary Polk, who appointed both the same public defender and set their arraignment for Sept. 4 at the Riverside Hall of Justice. The victim’s body has yet to be located, but Hestrin noted that investigators “have a pretty strong indication of where the remains of the baby are.” The search is ongoing. The couple were arrested last week following a San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department investigation. Each defendant is being held without bail — Jake Haro at the Smith Correctional Facility in Banning, his wife at the Robert Presley Jail in Riverside. “There were inconsistencies in Rebecca’s statements,” San Bernardino County Sheriff Shannon Dicus told reporters, explaining why no statewide Amber Alert was issued when Emmanuel was first reported missing. Dicus said detectives invested “hundreds of hours” investigating the case,
By City News Service
Emmanuel Haro. | Photo courtesy of the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department
running down leads. “There was forensic data from the crime scene,” he said. “That’s how we learned the jurisdiction where this crime occurred (Riverside County). Forensically, there were a number of things we were able to prove up.” He did not disclose specifics, and he said that while no one can pinpoint where the tot’s remains are now, “there’s some level of cooperation from the defendants.” Dicus emphasized that Jake Haro is an “experienced child abuser,” capable of realizing the gravity of the circumstances and how the justice system works, requiring gumshoe work by detectives to uncover clues. Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco said local Central Homicide Unit
investigators are working in concert with their counterparts to the north at every stage. “Neither of us cares about jurisdiction,” he said. “This is a massive investigation. Nothing is worse than harming a baby.” Hestrin said the tot’s death was preventable, blaming a failure in the criminal justice system that enabled Jake Haro to remain free on probation after pleading guilty in a prior child abuse case involving his ex-wife and another infant, Carolina. Haro admitted a child cruelty charge in 2023, but made his plea directly to the court, avoiding negotiations with prosecutors. See Baby murder Page 27
Hestrin said the prosecution wanted prison time for the defendant’s extensive abuse of the girl, which resulted in multiple broken ribs, a fractured skull and a brain hemorrhage. The 2018 abuse left the her permanently bed-ridden, according to Hestrin. “The judge decided in that case, he decided that Mr. Haro deserved an extra break and gave him (four years’) probation and basically 180 days of work release, which ends up being like community service,” the county’s top prosecutor said. The judge was on assignment from San Bernardino County. He was not named in the court register available online. “It was an outrageous error in judgment by this judge,” Hestrin said. “Mr. Haro should have been in prison at the time that this crime happened. If that judge had done his job, Emmanuel would be alive today. That’s a shame, and it’s an outrage.” San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department personnel were examining potential body dump sites along the Moreno Valley (60) Freeway in the Badlands at the end of last week, without success. Emmanuel was reported missing in the 34000 block of Yucaipa Boulevard in Yucaipa on the evening of Aug. 14. Rebecca Haro informed deputies she had been assaulted while standing near her vehicle, changing Emmanuel’s diaper outside a Big 5 store. The defendant suggested she was knocked out, and that the assailant fled with the tot. On Aug. 18, San Bernardino County sheriff’s detectives
VOL. 11,
NO. 239
Councilwoman holds edge in special election to fill Assembly seat By City News Service
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ake Elsinore City Councilwoman Natasha Johnson on Wednesday maintained her seven-point margin lead over Democrat Chris Shoults in the special election for Riverside County’s 63rd Assembly District. The latest count published Wednesday afternoon by the Riverside County Office of the Registrar of Voters indicated Johnson had received 33,672 votes to Shoults’ 28,842, netting the Republican businesswoman 53.9% of votes cast to 46.1% for her opponent. All precincts reported results by Wednesday morning. But some vote-by- mail, provisional and other ballots had not been processed. Results must be certified by Oct. 3. Another update on the count is slated for Thursday. Johnson has been a Lake Elsinore City Council member since 2012. She said her entire orientation is “good government” by staying focused on policies that best “protect taxpayers.” “As an Assembly member, I will support law enforcement to keep our neighborhoods safe, fight Sacramento taxes and red tape to lower our cost of living and protect parental rights and put students and parents first,” she said. The candidate has worked in personal finance and See Assembly seat Page 28
Rise in ‘Valley Fever’ cases across Riverside County prompts health warning By City News Service
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n elevated number of Valley Fever infections across Riverside County prompted health officials Wednesday to urge residents to take precautions and pay attention to signs of illness so they can obtain treatment whenever necessary. “It’s important to know about the risk of Valley Fever if you work or spend time in dusty environments and have respiratory symptoms that are not getting better after seven to 10 days,” county Public Health Officer Dr. Jennifer Chevinsky said. “Symptoms can look very similar to the flu and other respiratory illnesses.” Infections are concentrated in the lungs, generally stemming from inhalation of fungal spores while working or engaging in other activity outdoors, particularly in dry, windy environments, according to officials. “Spores can be carried in the air when soil is disturbed, putting outdoor workers, construction crews, farm workers, wildland firefighters and people spending time in dusty environments at risk,” according to a Riverside University Health System statement. See Valley Fever Page 28