Search continues for Merced murder suspect in child’s death. Here’s the latest

Police are continuing their search for a man wanted in the death of a child, whose body was found Friday in a north Merced home.

Meanwhile, statements by family members to the media are providing new details in the case.

Merced police over the weekend issued an arrest warrant for Dhante Jackson, 34, who lived at the home in the 500 block of Barclay Way, where Merced police found the child’s body on Friday.

Police believe Jackson went on the run after the child’s body was discovered.

A positive identification of the child’s body had not been made as of Monday morning. However, news about the body happened just after officers said they were searching for Sophia Mason, 8.

Merced police said they were acting on information from Hayward police, who had taken Sophia’s mother, 30-year-old Samantha Johnson, into custody for alleged child abuse.

Merced police said they met with Johnson at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin. Johnson told Merced police about the Barclay Way residence in Merced, where the body was found.

Jackson, who is wanted, is believed to be the boyfriend of Sophia’s mother, and known to frequent the San Francisco Bay Area.

Aunt says she filed dozens of reports with CPS, law enforcement

Emerald Johnson, Sophia’s aunt, told the East Bay Times she reported her niece missing to Hayward police after becoming concerned, following a phone call with the child’s mother.

The aunt said Sophia’s mother communicated she was coming to the Bay Area — but without her daughter because she had “gave her away.”

“I knew then that I had to make the report,” Emerald Johnson told East Bay Times.

Emerald Johnson also told the East Bay Times the child had spent most of her life in Hayward with her grandmother. After Sophia’s mother decided a couple years ago she wanted to play a bigger role in her daughter’s life, however, that changed. Sophia then would travel with her mother between the Bay Area and Southern California.

Emerald Johnson also said she filed over a dozen reports with police and Child Protective Services, saying she was concerned about the welfare of her niece under her mother’s care, according to East Bay Times.

Melanie Verlatti, Sophia’s cousin, told KPIX the “countless calls, letters, emails” to CPS were not taken seriously.

“It was… 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’” Verlatti told KPIX.

Sophia’s aunt said she is devastated by the child’s death.

“I had this bad feeling in my stomach, but still nothing prepared me for it,” she told East Bay Times. “This is a nightmare, especially because we feel like this could have been prevented.”

Anyone with information about the case or Jackson’s whereabouts can call Detective John Pinnegar at 209-388-7712 or write to pinnegarj@cityofmerced.org.

Tips are kept confidential and you can remain anonymous.

Tips can also be made through Crime Stoppers or the Merced police website.

This story was originally published March 14, 2022 at 3:31 PM.