Rebecca Haro,Jake Haro Arrested; – With the parents of 7-month-old Emmanuel Haro officially charged with murder and for filing a false police report, several new details have surfaced, including a possible timeline regarding the child’s alleged murder, during the couple’s initial appearance in a California courtroom.

Rebecca Haro

Rebecca Haro, aged 41, stated that she was rendered unconscious and that her child was abducted outside a Yucaipa Big 5 Sporting Goods store on August 14. Investigators identified discrepancies in her account and reported that she and her 32-year-old husband, Jake, ceased their cooperation and sought legal representation.

Shortly after the couple became the center of the investigation, they were arrested on suspicion of murder, with authorities indicating that the baby boy is presumed dead.
Jake Haro was seen on Sunday wearing an orange prison jumpsuit, assisting investigators in the search for the child’s remains along the westbound lanes of the 60 Freeway in Moreno Valley.

The body of Emmanuel has not yet been found.

On Tuesday afternoon, Rebecca and Jake Haro appeared in court in Riverside County without legal representation, surprising many observers. Attorney Vincent Hughes had previously represented the couple.

“They are indifferent to public opinion,” he stated to Nexstar’s KTLA at that time. “Their only desire is for the child to be located. They want him back home.”

It remains unclear why Hughes no longer seems to be representing the Haros.

Court documents released on Tuesday indicated that investigators suspect Emmanuel may have been deceased for as long as nine days before Rebecca’s assertion that he was kidnapped on August 14. Prosecutors now allege that the child was likely killed sometime between August 5 and August 14.

Additionally, there are unverified reports suggesting that the 41-year-old mother was seen inside the same sporting goods store days prior to her report of Emmanuel’s kidnapping, claiming that her vehicle had been broken into in the parking lot and inquiring about the presence of exterior surveillance cameras on the premises.

The minimum sentence for the charges the Haros are facing is life in prison without the possibility of parole, KTLA Legal Analyst Allison Trisel said, but that since the charge is murder with malice, they could be eligible for the death penalty.

“It’s a situation where there’s torture or extreme cruelty that would qualify for the enhancement malice charge,” she said, adding that it’s unknown at this point what prosecutors will be pushing for.

Before the couple’s arrest, it emerged that Jake Haro had a previous felony conviction for willful child cruelty and that Rebecca Haro’s brother is serving 50 years to life in prison for murdering his girlfriend and staging it as a suicide.

Cameras were allowed inside court on Tuesday, as were with dozens of people following the case. Many of them, like Catherine Fernandez, consider themselves Emmanuel supporters.

“My husband knows, and everyone knows I’ve been night-and-day thinking about this child and praying he’s found,” she told KTLA.

The Haros’ arraignment was ultimately pushed to next week, which, according to Riverside County Public Defender Brian Cosgrove, should be enough time to ensure both Jake and Rebecca Haro are each appointed separate attorneys who will need time to learn more about the case.

The delay also means the public will have to wait to learn any potential details investigators and prosecutors may be tight-lipped about.