A woman accused of killing her daughter in a case that exposed alarming deficiencies in Alameda County’s child welfare system has been sentenced to nearly 16 years in prison.
Samantha Johnson, Sophia Mason’s mother, was originally arrested on suspicion of murder but entered a plea to voluntary manslaughter, two counts of child abuse and two enhancements for causing great bodily injury in connection with the 8-year-old’s death.
Johnson was sentenced to 15 years and eight months in state prison, according to the Merced County District Attorney’s Office, which prosecuted the case.
Sophia spent much of her young life in Hayward with her grandmother, but in early 2021, Johnson “reappeared in Sophia’s life” and took custody of her, according to a civil lawsuit filed by the girl’s grandmother against Alameda County.
Within just a few weeks, Alameda County child welfare workers began receiving child abuse hotline calls saying Sophia was being abused and neglected while in her mother’s care, according to the suit.
The callers reported that Sophia’s mother hit her, choked her and covered her mouth to quiet her sobs.
Mom became ‘more unstable and scary’
County child welfare workers also soon learned Johnson “had recently changed for the worse, becoming more unstable and scary” and that Sophia was living in fear and hadn’t been going to school, the suit alleges.
Meanwhile, more calls were pouring in alleging that Sophia was being exposed to prostitution and that she was being hit by her mother and her mother’s friends, among other things.
Family members repeatedly asked the Alameda County Department of Children and Family Services to remove the girl from that environment.
“We recognize the deep anger and grief this case has generated. Our office shares in that sorrow. Throughout this process, our responsibility has been to pursue justice guided by the evidence, the law, and our ethical obligations.”
Nicole Silveira, Merced County District Attorney
“Despite these pleas, and the numerous and increasingly alarming allegations of abuse Alameda DCFS received, defendants did nothing to protect Sophia,” according to the suit.
After not seeing or hearing from Sophia for about a month, family members reported her missing to police in Merced, where her mom was living with her boyfriend.
On March 11, 2022, officers found the girl’s body in an advanced state of decomposition in a bathtub in Jonhson’s home.
Her exact cause of death was never determined but the case was investigated as a homicide.
Civil case still pending
“We recognize the deep anger and grief this case has generated. Our office shares in that sorrow,” said Merced County District Attorney Nicole Silveira. “Throughout this process, our responsibility has been to pursue justice guided by the evidence, the law, and our ethical obligations.”
In addition to the civil case against Alameda County, which is still pending, the California State Auditor and the Alameda County Civil Grand Jury investigated and found a multitude of systemic failures within the county’s child welfare system.
Currently state Sen. Aisha Wahab, D-Fremont, is leading a multi-agency task force with the goal of ensuring the county implements meaningful reforms.
“The audit’s findings were shocking yet undeniable,” Wahab said in February prior to a task force meeting about the audit. “Along with a Civil Grand Jury report, the State Auditor makes clear that Alameda County is failing, resulting in death and sexual exploitation of children.”