A west-central Missouri couple face multiple charges accusing them of torturing and killing a 4-year-old girl and torturing the child's mother and 2-year-old brother.
Deputies were called just before 1 a.m. Sunday to a rural home near the town of Cole Camp, the Benton County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release. A 4-year-old girl had been beaten, submerged in a pond and left to freeze on the bank before being taken back to her home, where she died, authorities said.
The child's mother, Mary Mast, 28, and her 2-year-old son also were badly beaten. They are hospitalized in Sedalia. The names of the two children were not released.
Deputies on Monday arrested the family's neighbors, Ethan Mast, 35, and Kourtney Aumen, 21. Both are charged with second-degree murder, sexual abuse and three counts of assault. They do not yet have attorneys.
It wasn’t immediately known whether Ethan Mast was related to the family, despite sharing the same last name.
Both are jailed without bond.
