A 31-year-old father and a 27-year-old stepmother in California are accused of torturing their 8-year-old daughter to death, allegedly pouring scalding hot water over the child's skin and crushing her hands before she was eventually beaten to death.

Ray Mata Jr. and Graciela Bustamonte were both taken into custody over the weekend and charged with a spate of felonies, including one count each of first-degree murder in the horrific slaying of Genesis A. Mata, records show.

According to the Bakersfield Police Department, officers at about 5:37 p.m. on Saturday responded to the La Quinta Inn in the 3200 block of Riverside Drive in regard to a reported medical emergency involving an unresponsive child in a bathtub. The caller allegedly said they learned from someone else that the child may b

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