The Benton County Prosecutor has upgraded the charges against four people after a four-year-old girl died near Cole Camp last December.
The parents and two neighbors are now charged with first-degree murder.
The parents, James and Mary Mast, were originally charged with endangering the welfare of a child.
The neighbors, Ethan Mast and Kourtney Aumen, were originally charged with second-degree murder.
KY3 reports one of the neighbors told authorities the girl was beaten with a belt and dunked in a pond.
The girl’s parents and a two-year-old child had also been beaten.
An infant was not hurt.
