Dad sentenced in deaths of 2 babies left in abandoned cars

TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) — The father of two infants whose remains were left in separate abandoned cars in Toledo was sentenced Wednesday to 11 years in prison.

Jacob Cisneros, 36, was found guilty earlier this month of complicity in the commission of involuntary manslaughter, tampering with evidence and obstruction. That came after he entered what’s known as an Alford plea, in which a defendant maintains their innocence but acknowledges there’s evidence that might lead a judge or jury to convict them.

Cisneros and his wife, Jenna, were investigated in November 2019, when cold-case detectives submitted DNA samples to a private forensic genealogy company from a deceased baby boy. The couple were arrested in February 2020 on charges accusing them of leaving the body of their infant son in a car in 2017.

Soon after the arrests, authorities found the remains of a second infant, a girl, inside another abandoned car at an apartment complex where the couple once lived.

A cause of death for the baby boy could not be determined, but authorities said the girl died of asphyxia by the umbilical cord. However, authorities could not determine if this was natural, accidental or intentional.

Cisneros has claimed he was unaware of his wife’s pregnancies, but Judge Linda Jennings told him Wednesday that was “inconceivable.” Jennings told Cisneros “your actions are so horrific they are void of description. You took part in killing two of your babies and you left them to decay in two separate vehicles.”

Jenna Cisneros pleaded no contest in August 2020 to charges of involuntary manslaughter, endangering children, tampering with evidence and obstruction of justice. She is now serving a 25-year state prion sentence.