After a monthslong search and an investigation concerning the Justice Department’s Special Operations Unit, police arrested Dhante Jackson in Newark, California, for the murder of Sophia Mason.
The girl’s body was found in Jackson’s Central Valley home in March, some days after her relatives reported that she was missing, the state attorney general’s office stated in a statement
.The family told police that they’d not touched with the girl since December.
That report led neighbourhood police to arrest Sophia’s mom, Samantha Johnson, on a warrant for a child abuse case the previous year, the AP said.
Samantha Johnson shared with investigators the abuse she stated her daughter faced from Jackson, which included “being pressured to stay in a shed in Jackson’s backyard and struggling with sexual and physical abuse,” the news release stated.
Officers have stated that Jackson and Samantha Johnson have been in a romantic relationship.
Court files show that Merced police found Sophia’s body in a tub in a locked restroom in Jackson’s home with a search warrant.
Police announced on Sunday that Sophia had been lifeless for at least a month, that she had been malnourished and that the Merced County coroner’s office had ruled her demise a murder.
The Merced County district attorney’s office charged Johnson with child abuse and murder and issued a warrant for his arrest in the child’s murder. The district attorney’s office will charge Jackson with murder.
Johnson has pleaded not guilty, the AP said. It is uncertain whether or not Jackson or Johnson have lawyers. The Merced County, public defender’s office couldn’t without delay be reached for comment on Sunday.
Authorities additionally charged 4 other people “suspected of helping Jackson in evading arrest,” the attorney general’s office stated.
“The pain of losing a child is unimaginable, mainly when that child was a victim of abuse,” Attorney General Rob Bonta stated in a statement. “We grieve with Sophia’s family and cherished ones, and we acknowledge that she ought to have been right here with us now — playing, learning, and growing up.”
Child welfare documents received by the Bay Area News Group show that two times, Sophia told social employees that her mom had choked and hit her and that a teacher and social worker reported concerns over what they thought were signs of abuse.
Sophia’s grandmother Sylvia Johnson last week filed a wrongful death legal claim against Alameda County, alleging the Department of Child and Family Services didn’t do enough to protect and save her
