They begged social workers to save 8-year-old Sophia Mason. She was found dead in a bathtub

Before 8-year-old Sophia Mason's body was found curled inside a bathtub in a Merced home, the young girl's extended family tried desperately to raise the alarm.

For more than a year, Sophia's aunt, grandmother, teachers and doctors reported signs the girl was being abused and neglected, at times pleading with social workers to remove her from her mother's care.

There had been bruises and scabs and what looked like cigarette burns on her body. All were reported to child welfare workers, according to a legal claim filed against the county.

Then there was Sophia's own account: She said her mother and her mom's boyfriend hit her with a belt buckle, according to her aunt, Emerald Johnson, who overheard Sophia speaking with child welfare caseworkers. She said the young girl told social workers that her mom choked her and covered her mouth to quiet her screams.

Child Protective Services also investigated an allegation that her mother's boyfriend had sexually abused Sophia, according to a police interview with the girl's mother, Samantha Johnson. Johnson's boyfriend denied the allegation, she told detectives, adding that she didn't believe Sophia when she told her the man had put his penis in her mouth.

Relatives say their repeated cries for help went unanswered.

"Everything that I told them