SUFFOLK COUNTY, NY - Prosecutors in New York allege that a family told a little girl's school they were taking a trip to Walt Disney World so they could keep her home and torture her.
The little girl, seven-year-old Jor'Dynn Duncan, never got to go to "The Most Magical Place on Earth," according to the Suffolk County Attorney's Office, Law & Crime reported. Instead, her family allegedly kept her home and tortured the child until she eventually died from a "massive untreated infection" stemming from sharp force injuries.
"The Suffolk County Medical Examiner's Office documented approximately 90 injuries on her body at the time of the victim's death," a press release from the DA's office said.
District Attorney Raymond Tierney described the death of Jor'Dynn as a cruel and "brutal" murder of a "defenseless, innocent child" who was placed in the care of 50-year-old Emily Kelly, her mother, 75-year-old Barbara Renner, and Kelly's biological daughter, Elyssa Seymore. Tierney said the family was granted full custody of Jor'Dynn, as Kelly is the fiancée of her father, in April 2025 by Child Protective Services.
They allegedly spent almost a year torturing, imprisoning, and abusing her until she died in late December 2025. "This was not an alleged single act of violence," Tierney explained. "It was months of alleged systematic cruelty and sadistic abuse, meticulously documented. The child was allegedly left to die while these defendants watched her deteriorate."
The DA said that Jor'Dynn missed school at least 40 times between January 2025 and June 2025. "Kelly allegedly provided fabricated excuses involving different illnesses, deaths in the family, and a trip to Disney World — all of which were allegedly used to conceal the abuse," Tierney said.
Kelly called 911 on the morning of December 29, 2025, to report that Jor'Dynn was in "cardiac arrest," according to the DA's office. Paramedics and authorities arrived on scene and found the child unconscious. She was transported to NYU Langone Hospital-Suffolk, where she was pronounced dead.
"No child should ever endure such horror," Tierney says. "We will seek justice for Jor'Dynn." Kelly, Renner and Seymore were arrested and charged on Wednesday, May 20. Kelly faces charges of second-degree murder, reckless endangerment, unlawful imprisonment and child endangerment.
Renner has been charged with second-degree manslaughter and child endangerment. Seymore has been charged with unlawful imprisonment and child endangerment. All three are due back in court on June 23.
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