6 Month Manhunt Ends | True Crime Podcast

Months after he was on the run, the 34-year-old suspect in the maltreatment, sexual assault, and murder of an 8-year-old girl earlier this year was apprehended.

Dhante Jackson was arrested on suspicion of murder and child abuse on September 10 in Newark, California. He was apprehended by officers from the Merced Police Department, the Merced Area Gang and Narcotics Enforcement Team, and the Department of Justice's Special Operations Unit.

The Merced Police Department also reported that, after six months of looking for him, they had finally located and arrested Jackson. The police say they detained many people who "aided Jackson while he was on the run by providing him shelter and financial support."

Sophia's loved ones filed a missing person report with the Hayward Police on March 8; they said they hadn't seen her since December 2021. Sophia, a "at-risk missing juvenile," was reported missing on March 11 and a search was launched.

Samantha Johnson, Jackson's alleged girlfriend, was arrested on child abuse charges and taken into jail at the Santa Rita Jail, where detectives reportedly met with both Sophia's mother and Johnson. Reports state that Johnson directed police to the Barclay Way home where they discovered Sophia's body. After Johnson's arrest, he was sent to the Merced County Jail on murder charges.

The California Attorney General's Office said in a press release after Jackson's arrest that Sophia had been "forced to live in a shed" and had been subjected to sexual and physical abuse.

Police discovered Sophia's body about a month after she had died, and an examination revealed she had suffered from malnutrition. The method of her death was reportedly ruled to be homicide by the coroner.

Lt. Joe Perez of the Merced Police Department told reporters, "In my 20 years in law enforcement, this case is the most frightening and awful I've encountered."

Police reportedly discovered the girl's rotting body in the tub. Social workers in Alameda County say that Sophia stated her mother had assaulted her twice, including by choking and burning her.

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