COLE CAMP, Mo. (AP) — A 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.
The Benton County Sheriff’s Department says deputies were called just before 1 a.m. Sunday to a rural home. A 4-year-old girl had been beaten, submerged in a pond and left to freeze on the bank before dying.
Her mother, 28-year-old Mary Mast, and Mast's 2-year-old son also were badly beaten. They are hospitalized. Deputies on Monday arrested the family’s neighbors, 35-year-old Ethan Mast and 21-year-old Kourtney Aumen.
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.
-------
BENTON COUNTY, MO. —Law enforcement are investigating the death of a child and have made an arrest.
Just before 1a.m. Monday, officials in Benton County were informed that a four-year-old was deceased, according to a media release.
The father, James Mast, 28 of a rural Cole Camp told deputies his daughter had been beaten, submerged in a pond, then left to freeze on the bank before being taken back into the residence.
Mary S. Mast, 28, the mother of the deceased and a two-year-old male child were also beaten to a severe extent. Mary and the toddler were transported by ambulance to Bothwell Regional Hospital in Sedalia where they are recovering.
After an investigation, Benton County Deputies arrested Ethan J. Mast, 35 and Kourtney T. Aumen, 21 of a neighboring residence pending multiple felony charges. This is still an active investigation with the possibility of further arrests, according to the release.