TOLEDO, Ohio — The Toledo father accused in the deaths of his two infant children in 2020 has accepted a plea agreement in the case.
Jacob Cisneros, 36, will be sentenced Feb. 16 on two counts of complicity to involuntary manslaughter, one count of tampering with evidence and one count of obstruction of justice.
He agreed Tuesday in Lucas County Common Pleas Court to enter an Alford plea, in which a defendant does not admit to committing a crime, but admits the state has sufficient evidence to get a conviction that could lead to a more severe sentence.
Cisneros was charged in the deaths of a 2-month-old son found in a car in May 2017 and a baby daughter found in a car registered to him in February 2020.
The bodies of both babies were found wrapped up in blankets and discovered on the floor of the cars, underneath the dashboards.
Jacob Cisneros and his wife, Jenna Cisneros, were indicted on two counts each of involuntary manslaughter, endangering children, tampering with evidence and obstruction of justice.
Jenna Cisneros, 35, pleaded no contest in August, 2020, to two counts of involuntary manslaughter. She was sentenced to 25 years in prison.
Two babies were found wrapped up in blankets under the dashboard of two separate cars. Baby Doe #1 which was a boy was discovered on Vaness Drive in May 2017. The case remained unsolved and the baby's identity unknown.
In November 2019, the Toledo Police Department and the Cold Case Investigative Unit at the Lucas County Prosecutors Office submitted DNA samples to AdvanceDNA which is a genetic genealogy firm. The firm used ancestry databases to confirm the infant was genetically related to a person who lived on Vaness Drive and was a blood relative to Jacob Cisneros. The database also revealed that Jenna Cisneros was likely the mother of the child.
The couple was arrested after DNA evidence confirmed Jenna and Jacob Cisneros were the biological parents of Baby Doe. It was during this investigation that detectives discovered the mummified body of Baby Doe #2, a girl, located in a car registered to Jacob Cisneros.
The babies' cause of death couldn't be determined.
During a search of the Cisneros mobile home, detectives found bedding matching the bedding that Baby Doe #2 was wrapped in inside Jacob's vehicle.
Detectives also believe Jenna gave birth to the baby inside her home.
There were no birth records for either children.