Accused killer of child makes first Merced court appearance after being on the run

Dhante Jackson, the alleged killer of 8-year-old Sophia Mason, made his first appearance in Merced County Superior Court Monday after evading arrest for six months.

Jackson, 34, is charged with murder and felony child abuse in the gruesome death of Sophia. Back in March, the child’s body was found inside a bath tub of Jackson’s home on Barclay Way in Merced. Police said Sophia had been dead for about a month.

The co-defendant in Sophia’s homicide, her mother Samantha Johnson, 31, was previously arrested on murder and felony child abuse charges, not long after the child’s body was found.

Police announced Jackson’s arrest in the Bay Area community of Newark on Saturday, ending a six-month search for the child’s alleged killer. On Monday, Jackson appeared via video from the the jail, but declined to enter a plea in Judge Paul Lo’s courtroom.

Jackson said he needed time to hire a private attorney. The new arraignment date is set for Sept. 14 at 8:30 a.m.

Deputy District Attorney Katie Gates said Jackson’s three accomplices may also be arraigned that day. The three accomplices were arrested on Saturday for being an accessory to murder after the fact.

Merced police officials said the three woman, Daberka Thompson of San Jose, Laronna Larkins of Merced and Mayra Gonzalez of Newark, supplied Jackson with money, a place to stay and transportation.

Shock to the community

Sophia’s death sent shock waves through the community of Merced, after local police found her body in a bathtub inside Jackson’s residence.

Merced police found the residence after acting on information from Hayward police, who had arrested Sophia’s biological mother Johnson on suspicion of child abuse.

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.

Jackson was finally tracked down and arrested Saturday by the Merced Police Department’s MAGNET Task Force and a California Department of Justice task force.

“As much as I am grateful that Dhante Jackson is behind bars, like so many of us up here I am also damn angry,” said California Attorney General Rob Bonta, during a press conference Sunday at the Merced Police Department.

“I am damn angry that we are here because little Sophia should be alive, she should be playing, learning and growing up. She should be pursuing her dreams but unfortunately she is not. And those accused of her murder must pay a steep price for their abhorrent crimes.”

Jackson remains at the Merced County Jail without bail.