Sentenced: Child's Body Found In Merced Home, Police Say

[Sugar Cookie]

An investigation is underway after a child's body was found in a Merced home near Barclay and M Friday afternoon.

Merced Police say they were led to this home as they looked for 8-year-old Sophia Mason, who has been missing for more than a month.

Police are not indicating whether the child in the home is Sophia Mason.

The investigation into the disappearance started when family members contacted Hayward Police in the Bay Area, asking for a welfare check on Sophia and her mom.

Sophia's mother, Samantha Johnson was arrested Thursday night on several charges. Police say when they asked her where Sophia was, she gave inconsistent answers.

Child's body found in Merced home, police say

An investigation is underway after a child's body was found in a Merced home near Barclay and M on Friday afternoon.

abc30.com

Johnson, 31, is being held in Alameda County on one count of obstructing a police officer and one count of corporal injury to a child with a $50,000 bail.

Merced police are searching for an eight-year-old girl who disappeared a month ago.

Officials with the Merced Police Department say the Hayward Police Department in Alameda County contacted them about eight-year-old Sophia Mason.

She was last seen on February 10 in the Merced area.

Mason is from Merced but has been to Hayward and other cities in Southern California with her mother. Investigators say Mason's mother is currently in custody.

No further information about the investigation was immediately available.

Merced police searching for 8-year-old girl who went missing last month

Merced police are searching for eight-year-old Sophia Mason who disappeared a month ago.

abc30.com

 

[McDanel]

Anyone pay attention to the other stories at the link? Yep, that's FresNO.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

A 30-year-old Hayward woman, being held for child abuse in Santa Rita jail, was charged with murder Saturday hours after she led police to a Merced home where a child’s body was discovered.

Merced police said Samantha Johnson now faces a murder charge along with her boyfriend, 34-year-old Dhante Jackson of Merced, who has Bay Area connections. He remains at large and is the focus of a statewide manhunt.

“Jackson resides at the home where the deceased child was found,” police posted on Facebook. “Soon after news spread about Jackson’s home being searched, he went on the run.”

Meanwhile, the Merced County Coroner’s Office was trying to determine if the child’s body was that of Johnson’s missing 8-year-old daughter, Sophia Mason.

Since Tuesday, Hayward police have been searching for Sophia. Johnson was arrested Thursday evening after giving investigators suspicious information regarding her daughter’s whereabouts. She eventually gave Hayward police enough information to have them ask Merced police to check out a home on Barclay Way.

Once inside the home, detectives discovered the body.

“Detectives interviewed Johnson about the deceased child found in the residence that she led police to in the city of Merced,” police posted on Facebook. “Johnson was ultimately arrested for the charge of murder and remains in custody at the Santa Rita Jail.

MSN

 

[Sugar Cookie]

Dhante Jackson and Samantha Johnson

 

[Sugar Cookie]

Heartbroken family members told KPIX that the tragic death of an eight-year-old Hayward girl who had gone missing could have been avoided if Child Protective Services had heeded repeated warnings about the girl’s mother.

Merced Police have issued an arrest warrant for 34-year-old Dhante Jackson, the boyfriend of 30-year-old Hayward mother Samantha Johnson, who is now behind bars.

Both are facing murder charges after investigators found a child’s body inside the Central Valley home where authorities believe Samantha and her daughter, Sophia Mason, had been staying.

Since Tuesday, Hayward police have been searching for the missing eight-year-old girl. Family members said Mason was last seen in December. But they have been worried about her well-being for years.

“Devastated, shocked and angry. Just seems unreal,” said Mason’s cousin Melanie Verlatti. “Thinking about how this could have been avoided, and just knowing that it’s terrible, and it’s a tragedy.”

Verlatti described Mason as a bubbly and playful 8-year-old girl who loved her adoptive grandmother, Sylvia Johnson. She raised Mason most of her life.

Verlatti’s sister Melissa Harris said the child last spoke with Sylvia over the phone two weeks ago.


“[Sylvia] says she was not like herself at all. She seemed very drowsy, as if she were drugged. She couldn’t finish her sentences and that caused Sylvia to have a lot of concern,” said Harris.

The family said there were several red flags over the years and pleas for help from the authorities and Child Protective Services fell on deaf ears.

“It was countless calls, letters, emails… my cousin who is also Samantha’s sister had sent me documents saying we feel like Sophia’s in an unsafe environment. Her mom’s taken her, we know she’s prostituting, and she has her and she’s in a hotel somewhere, but they would ultimately say ‘well she’s with her mom’” said Verlatti.


Samantha was adopted by Sylvia at a young age. The family said she struggled with mental health issues, including bi-polar disorder and schizophrenia. Over the years, Samantha would show up sporadically and take her daughter without warning. She would disappear for weeks and months at a time, and cut off all communication.

“She would take Sophia up and down the coast, Northern California, Southern California, in and out of different hotels, while she was prostituting. Who knows all that she’s been exposed to and we’ve heard that she’s drugged her before, so she would go to sleep, and not make noise in a hotel room while her mom is involved in illegal activities,” added Verlatti.


There were also signs of physical abuse at the hands of her mother, she said. In the fall of last year, the family said Kaiser Permanente workers began taking photos of the child’s scars and bruises, unrelated to the car accident which originally brought her to the hospital. But that’s when Samantha fled the hospital with Sophia.

This incident prompted police to issue a warrant for her arrest. Samantha was eventually taken into custody this week. During the investigation into her child’s disappearance, Samantha led police to her boyfriend’s home in Merced.

Jackson went on the run soon after news spread about his home being searched, according to Merced Police.

“This system is broken, and this is what happens when kids fall through the cracks in the systems. And this is more than kids who fall through the cracks in the system. This is kids who are poor and kids who are of color,” said Verlatti.

In addition to family’s concerns, Harris said a Bay Area women’s shelter where Samantha and Sophia had been staying also contacted Child Protective Services. They stated that Samantha was starving her child. Ultimately, the family said no action was taken.

“My sister and I are hoping to speak for her in some regard and tell her story because her story was cut short,” said Harris. “She turned eight January 1st of this year and it is an absolute tragedy that she didn’t get to life a full life. But not only that, as Melanie said, but to bring awareness to the fact that our social services system is overburdened.”

Family of Missing Hayward Girl Devastated After Child’s Body Found — ‘This Could Have Been Avoided’ - Local News 8

By Betty Yu Click here for updates on this story HAYWARD, California (KPIX) — Heartbroken family members told KPIX that the tragic death of an eight-year-old Hayward girl who had gone missing could have been avoided if Child Protective Services had heeded repeated warnings about the girl’s...

localnews8.com

 

[LateArrival]

Poor sweet baby…

 

[Sugar Cookie]

“This system is broken, and this is what happens when kids fall through the cracks in the systems. And this is more than kids who fall through the cracks in the system. This is kids who are poor and kids who are of color,” said Verlatti.

Before they speak for anybody they need to educate themselves - all children can and are be failed by the child welfare system.

Due to lawsuits and and a push towards reunification the parents rights, whether anyone wants to admit it, are protected more the the child/ren - regardless of the color of the child.

Unless a child is seriously injured a parent will still get visitation (usually supervised at first) with that child and the chance to regain custody.

 

[Sugar Cookie]

 

[Sugar Cookie]

Many of the details are disturbing, and paint a picture of a child who endured extreme suffering before her death, based on her mother’s statements to detectives.

For example, Johnson told a Merced police detective that Jackson, her boyfriend, had kept Sophia in a shed outside of the house in Merced. Johnson also told Merced police the child was subjected to physical and sexual abuse by Jackson. The police documents indicate detectives located evidence that abuse happened.

Police reports show detectives do have cell phones that belonged to Jackson and Johnson.

Johnson told police that she had given permission to Jackson to “discipline” Sophia — and the abuse became more severe over time. Still, Johnson told police she did nothing to stop Jackson from abusing the child because she feared him.

The mother told police that on Feb. 10 she had removed Sophia, who was covered in feces, from the shed to take a shower. Jackson had been in the bathroom with the child, and there was a loud “thud,” as if someone had fallen, Johnson told police.

Johnson told police Jackson had told her the child had wanted to be left alone. Johnson also said the next morning she had looked for her daughter, but saw a sliding glass door was open and thought she had left the home. “Johnson stated that she believed in her mind that (Sophia) had runaway (sic),” the police report stated.

Under questioning, Johnson told detectives she had looked for her daughter for two weeks, but then stopped. “Jackson told Johnson that your daughter (Sophia) does not want to be with you and does not want to be your daughter anymore. Johnson stated that Jackson told her this so that is the reason why she stopped looking for (Sophia),” the police report states.

When Merced police arrived at the Barclay Way residence, they found Sophia’s body in a bath tub, inside a locked first floor bathroom.

https://www.sacbee.com/news/california/article259637214.html

 

[Sugar Cookie]

The mother of 8-year-old Sophia Mason made her first appearance in Merced Superior Court on Monday, where she stands accused of murder and felony child abuse in the child’s death.

Wearing a yellow jailhouse jumpsuit and glasses, Samantha Johnson, 31, showed little emotion during the brief arraignment hearing, pleading not guilty to the charges.

Meanwhile co-defendant in the case, Dhante Jackson, 34, remains at large with a murder warrant for his arrest. Merced police have offered a $3,000 award for information leading to Jackson’s arrest.

Deputy District Attorney Katie Gates, the prosecutor in the case, said because the investigation is ongoing she could not elaborate on the case’s details. She did say the death penalty is not currently being considered for Johnson.

Deputy Public Defender Beth Ann Lee, Johnson’s defense attorney, emphasized that her client is innocent until proven guilty, asking the public to keep an open mind.


Lee also said there is more to the story that the public hasn’t heard. “I believe personally that there were two victims of Mr. Jackson,” Lee said. “One survived and one didn’t.”

Sophia’s body was found on March 11, after Merced police arrived at a two-story home on Barclay Way, acting on a tip from Hayward police from information given to them by Johnson.

Sophia’s body was found in a bathtub inside the house, curled in a fetal position.

Since then, more information has emerged about some of the circumstances that may have preceded Sophia’s death. Most prominently, Merced police believe Jackson, 34, murdered and abused Sophia — and has been on the run ever since.

The police reports from the investigation into Sophia’s death also contain horrific details that she was treated with extreme cruelty, based on Johnson’s statements to detectives that Jackson had brutally sexually and physically abused Sophia and kept her in a shed in back of the house, the documents say.

Mother charged with murder of 8-year-old daughter enters plea in Merced County court

Meanwhile, the co-defendant in the case, Dhante Jackson, 34, remains at large.

news.yahoo.com

The egg is going to play the victim

 

[GoneWest]

“I believe personally that there were two victims of Mr. Jackson,” Lee said. “One survived and one didn’t.”

Bull fucking shit!
One was a 31 year old grown ass woman; one was helpless 8 year old child. One chose to not only bring this monster into her and her child’s life, but kept him there long after his destruction began. The other had no choice as the one person on the face of the earth whose job it was to protect her, literally invited in the devil to destroy her.
Poor baby was born to a mother whose mantra apparently was, “Better her than me.”

 

[Sugar Cookie]

Authorities in Newark arrest man suspected of killing 8-year-old Sophia Mason

Dhante Jackson, 34, was arrested in Newark on suspicion of murder and child abuse in the killing of 8-year-old Sophia Mason.

www.mercurynews.com

 

[Sugar Cookie]

A man charged with murdering Sophia Mason — the 8-year-old Hayward girl whose gruesome death nearly four years ago highlighted numerous failings in Alameda County’s child safety net — accepted a plea deal earlier this month and was released from jail.

Dhante Jackson was released from jail in Merced County on Oct. 6 after pleading guilty to an accessory charge in Sophia’s death, his attorney and the Merced County District Attorney’s Office confirmed this week. His release was a result of having spent nearly three years in jail, which was nearly two years longer than the maximum sentence to which he pleaded guilty, according to his attorney.

The end of his case leaves Sophia’s mother, Samantha Johnson, as the lone person still facing murder and child abuse charges in the girl’s death.

On Tuesday, Jackson’s attorney criticized Merced County prosecutors and Merced’s police force for their investigation and their alleged reliance on Johnson’s statements, suggesting “they just took her word for it.”

The attorney, Todd Melnik, claimed to have undertaken a “painstaking” investigation to prove Jackson’s innocence on the murder charge, which included pulling license plate reader data and Bay Area toll records, while also putting Jackson through a polygraph test.

“Justice was clearly done, but it was justice delayed. Dhante never should have been arrested,” said Melnik.

In March 2022, Sophia’s body was found decomposing in the bathtub of a Merced house after her relatives in Hayward grew concerned about her well-being. The girl had been dead for at least a month before anyone found her corpse, and she appeared to be extremely malnourished at the time of her death, which was ruled a homicide by the Merced County coroner’s office.

Johnson, Sophia’s mother, previously told authorities that Sophia had been made to stay in a metal shed in their backyard as punishment, police records show. She also admitted to burning Sophia’s leg with a hot spoon as a form of discipline and choking her on at least one occasion, the records show.

Johnson also previously told investigators that she ultimately removed Sophia from the shed, because the girl had “feces on her” and needed to take a shower, according to records. At one point, it sounded like the girl fell in the bathroom, though Johnson didn’t investigate the “thud” because Jackson said the girl wanted to be left alone, according to a police report.

The next day, Johnson assumed Sophia ran away, because the back sliding door was open, the mother told investigators. She did not ask authorities for help looking for her, according to a police report.

Subsequent investigations by the Bay Area News Group discovered deep deficiencies in the response by the Alameda County Department of Children and Family Services to repeated concerns about Sophia’s well-being during the last year and a half of her life. County social workers appeared to repeatedly ignore evidence of the danger Sophia was in under her mother’s care, and did not elevate allegations of abuse to law enforcement in a timely fashion, the investigations found. Alameda County had jurisdiction over the case because Sophia lived the majority of her life in Hayward.

The revelations underscored concerns about systemic issues within Alameda County’s child welfare agency for how quickly its employees responded to reports of children being abused or neglected. Those concerns remain: Just last month, California’s State Auditor, Grant Parks, issued a fresh report claiming the county agency failed to meet state deadlines to investigate alleged child abuse and provide physical and mental health care.

continue reading

Man held in death of 8-year-old Sophia Mason released from jail after plea deal

The move marks an abrupt end to a yearslong criminal case that attracted the attention of California Attorney General Rob Bonta.

www.eastbaytimes.com

 

[Sugar Cookie]

A 34-year-old California woman will spend more than a decade behind bars for forcing her 8-year-old daughter to live in a shed before the child died, then leaving her body to decompose in a bathtub for months.

Samantha Johnson pleaded no contest to manslaughter and two counts of child abuse in the death of her daughter Sophia Mason. As part of a plea deal, prosecutors dropped the murder charge. A judge on Thursday sentenced Johnson to 15 years and 8 months in prison.

Authorities found Sophia dead in a bathroom on March 11, 2022, in Merced, which is roughly 50 miles northwest of Fresno. Authorities found Sophia's decomposing body after she was reported missing.

Johnson was arrested immediately, while her boyfriend Dhante Jackson was taken into custody about six months later. He was facing the same charges but he pleaded guilty last October to a lesser charge. He was released from jail with credit for time served.

Mom who forced her 8-year-old to live in a shed, let her body rot in bathtub learns fate

A 34-year-old California woman will spend more than a decade behind bars for forcing her 8-year-old daughter to live in a shed before she died and left her body to decompose in a bathtub for months.

lawandcrime.com