Merced police say Dante Jackson has been on the run ever since. California Attorney General Rob Bonda’s office announced that he was finally located and taken into custody in Newark, California on Saturday. It came after a months-long search and investigation led by the Merced Police Department with assistance from the Merced Gang and Narcotics Enforcement Team (MAGNET), the Department of Justice’s Special Operations Unit, the Newark Police Department and the county sheriff’s office Merced Sophia Mason was found dead in a bathtub in early March. Her mother, 30-year-old Samantha Johnson, was taken into custody at the time and now faces charges of child abuse and first-degree murder. He has pleaded not guilty. RELATED: Mother of 8-year-old girl found dead in Merced makes first court appearance In documents from the Merced Police Department investigation obtained by Action News, Johnson claimed she had not seen her child for weeks before the murder. The documents also allege that Sophia was forced to live in a metal shed in the backyard of the home and was sexually and physically abused by Jackson. The Merced Police Department says Jackson will be taken back to the Merced County Jail to face murder charges. Officers also charged four other suspects, one in Merced and three in the Bay Area, who are suspected of helping Jackson evade capture. On Saturday, Action News spoke with Melanie Verlatti, Sophia Mason’s cousin. She said her family was happy to learn of Jackson’s arrest. “We were hoping and praying that they would catch him. You know, we haven’t heard anything that the case has gone cold, we’re hearing that people are looking, but we don’t have any leads or we haven’t heard anything, so to hear that he was caught and that he was taken into custody, that’s great news, we are so, so happy and so grateful.” Merced police say they plan to hold a news conference Sunday morning to discuss the case. We plan to carry it live on our ABC30 streaming and digital platforms. Copyright © 2022 KFSN-TV. All rights reserved.
