The mother of Emma Grace Cole, the 3-year-old girl whose charred remains were found in a Smyrna softball field in Sept. 2019, had pleaded guilty to murder, though the Delaware Department of Justice did not notify numerous family members ahead of the plea.
Tanya Axsom, who cared for Emma Grace for much of her life before an Indiana judge remanded the toddler back to Kristie Cole Haas’ custody, said she learned of the Thursday morning plea through an acquaintance. She said she was shocked and angry.
“I feel like I’m being hit by a bus all over again,” she told Delaware Online/The News Journal. “I am so mad that they didn’t even bother to say a damn thing to any of us.”
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She added that given she is Emma Grace’s great aunt and that she was the little girl’s legal guardian for a little more than a year, she feels “we should have had the right to know, in case we wanted to be there.”
According to Delaware’s victim bill of rights, victims of crime or next-of-kin have a right to be notified prior to any proceedings.
Similarly, Emma Grace’s grandfather − the father of Kristie Haas − said he was shocked to learn of the plea. He was informed of the news by a Delaware Online/News Journal reporter. He said Kristie Haas’ sister Kelsey Cole Navarro, was also not informed.
It remains unclear if Kristie Cole Haas’ mother, Belinda Johnson-Hurtado, knew of the plea. Kelsey and her father, as well as Axsom, have had little contact with Johnson-Hurtado since Emma Grace’s remains were found.
What happened?
Emma Grace’s burned remains were found by a dog walker in Smyrna’s Little Lass softball fields on Sept. 13, 2019.
For about a year, no one knew who she was until James Cole came across a forensic sketch on the Smyrna Police Department’s website.
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He previously told Delaware Online/The News Journal he began looking at police websites in Sept. 2020 after Kelsey called him to report a “strange conversation” she had with her mother, then sister, about Emma Grace.
Concerned about Kristie Cole Haas’ lack of communication with him and armed with this new information, James Cole began searching Delaware obituaries, thinking perhaps Emma Grace died and Kristie Cole Haas was too embarrassed to tell anyone.
After having no luck, he began searching Delaware police websites to look for missing persons. After finding the sketch, he reached out to the Smyrna detective assigned to the case, who followed up on the lead.
On Sept. 20, 2020, the FBI set up surveillance outside the Comfort Inn and Suites on Baltimore Pike in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania, where Kristie Cole Haas, her husband Brandon Haas − who is not Emma Grace’s father − and her children were staying. Kristie was seen leaving the hotel with her son and dropped “several items” of trash in the hotel dumpster, which police collected for possible DNA.
MORE:The life and death of Emma Grace Cole: A timeline — and what’s next
About a week later, the Delaware Division of Forensic Sciences contacted law enforcement and said DNA taken from a straw Kristie threw out on Sept. 23 was similar to DNA taken from Emma Grace’s rib. Kristie Cole Haas and Brandon Haas were arrested soon after and later charged with murder.
What did Kristie plea to?
In a last-minute Thursday hearing, Kristie Cole Haas pleaded guilty to murder by abuse or neglect, as well as endangering the welfare of a child and abuse of a corpse.
HOW KRISTIE GOT CUSTODY:How a judge’s decision, a parent’s will and a legal presumption failed Emma Grace Cole
While sentencing will occur at a later-determined date, the plea agreement with the state is that she spends 30 years behind bars before being eligible for release. A judge can, however, give her up to life in prison.
It was not immediately known what the status of Brandon Haas’ charges are. He had been out on bail.
Axsom told Delaware Online/News Journal that while she “knows (she) should be happy that Kristie pled guilty,” she wants the woman to spend the rest of her life behind bars.
“(Emma Grace) was one of the biggest parts of my life, and my life has been so (expletive) since the day they took her away,” Axsom said. “I have not been, and will never be, the same.”
Got a tip? Send to Isabel Hughes at ihughes@delawareonline.com or 302-324-2785. For all things breaking news, follow her on Twitter at @izzihughes_
