![Sheriff: Benton County Girl’s Killers Sought To Remove ‘Demon’](https://townsquare.media/site/468/files/2020/12/Mast.jpg?w=980&q=75)
Sheriff: Benton County Girl’s Killers Sought To Remove ‘Demon’
A Missouri sheriff says a 4-year-old girl died after being dunked in an icy pond and beaten by two neighbors who claimed it was necessary to remove a “demon."
35-year-old Ethan Mast and 21-year-old Kourtney Aumen are charged with second-degree murder and other offenses. Benton County Sheriff Eric Knox says the crime appears to be the result of “some kind of honest-to-goodness religious-type episode."
Deputies were called Sunday to a rural home near Lincoln and found the 4-year-old wrapped in a blanket.
A probable cause statement says she had severe bruising and blisters over her body.
Both Mast and Aumen, booked on Sunday at 1:30 a.m., were being held at the Benton County Jail with no bond. They were charged with 2nd degree murder, 1st degree assault and 1st degree sexual abuse.
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