Mother of missing Yucaipa infant faces murder hearing Friday

Rebecca Renee Haro, 42, whose 7-month-old son Emmanuel vanished last August in what she and her husband claimed was a kidnapping, is scheduled for a preliminary hearing Friday at Riverside Hall of Justice to determine whether she should stand trial for the infant's murder.

The case drew widespread regional attention after investigators determined the couple had filed a false kidnapping report. Emmanuel's father has already been convicted and is serving a 32-years-to-life sentence, while the infant's body has never been found.

Haro is charged with felony murder and filing a false police report, according to ABC7 Los Angeles. She is held on $1 million bail at Robert Presley Jail in Riverside County, with Judge Jerry Yang of Riverside County Superior Court presiding over Friday's proceedings.

The child's father, Jake Mitchell Haro, 33, pleaded guilty in October to second-degree murder, child assault and filing a false police report, the Orange County Register reported. He was sentenced in November to 32 years to life in state prison.

The couple initially told authorities that Emmanuel had been snatched by a stranger from a parking lot in Yucaipa in August, according to City News Service. Investigators later concluded the account was fabricated.

A forensic pediatric specialist who examined evidence in the case identified signs of brain injury linked to abnormal extremity shaking, pointing to abuse as a likely cause of the infant's presumed death, according to ABC7 Los Angeles. Emmanuel's remains have not been recovered.

If the court finds sufficient cause at Friday's hearing, Rebecca Haro will face a formal arraignment on the charges. The preliminary hearing is a required step in California felony proceedings before a case advances to trial.

Should the court bind the case over Friday, Rebecca Haro would become the second parent to face trial in connection with Emmanuel's presumed death, following her husband's conviction last fall.