California Woman Charged with Murdering Daughter
Samantha Johnson, 31, appeared in a Merced, CA courtroom on Tuesday where she was formally charged with the murder of her own daughter, Sophia Mason. Mason’s body was found on March 11 inside the home of Johnson’s boyfriend, 34-year-old Dante Jackson. Jackson was also charged with the murder but remains at large and is the “subject of a statewide manhunt” CBS San Francisco reports.
According to court documents obtained by the Merced Sun-Star, Johnson told Merced police that her daughter was “kept in a shed” outside where she suffered “physical and sexual abuse” by Jackson. Johnson admitted that she allowed Jackson to “discipline” her daughter, and that the abuse got worse over time. She stated that she didn’t stop Jackson because she feared him.
Johnson is being held without bail, and she will appear in court for further arraignment on March 28. Investigators are seeking information from the public about Dante Jackson’s whereabouts, and the case remains active.
