A Tuesday, October 27, federal lawsuit is revealing new details on the final year of 7-year-old Jor’Dynn Duncan’s life, alleging that the Long Island girl endured months of beatings, starvation and documented torture before her death in December 2025.
The complaint accuses Suffolk County, New York, the county’s Child Protective Services and school officials of ignoring warning signs that could have saved her — and it arrives after her body was recently exhumed in connection with the ongoing criminal case against her legal guardian and two of the guardian’s relatives.
Three women — Emily Kelly, Barbara Renner and Elyssa Seymore — have pleaded not guilty to charges tied to Jor’Dynn’s death. The civil case now names them as defendants alongside the public institutions her mother says failed to protect her.
Who Was Jor’Dynn Duncan and How Did She Die?
Jor’Dynn Duncan was declared dead at NYU Langone Hospital – Suffolk on December 29, 2025, after her legal guardian, Kelly, called 911 reporting the girl was in cardiac arrest.
Paramedics arrived to find Jor’Dynn unresponsive, according to prosecutors. An autopsy identified roughly 90 injuries on her body and determined she died of “a massive untreated infection, the source of which were sharp force injuries,” the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said in a prior news release.
Jor’Dynn had been placed in Kelly’s custody by Suffolk County CPS in December 2024, and Kelly — who was engaged to Jor’Dynn’s father — was granted full legal guardianship in April 2025. Her biological mother, Portia Duncan, lost custody after allegedly failing a drug test, per WABC-TV.
The Criminal Charges
Suffolk County District Attorney Raymond A. Tierney announced the indictment on May 20, describing “the alleged prolonged torture, abuse, and the brutal murder of a defenseless, innocent child who was placed in their care.”
Kelly, 50, of Bayport, faces second-degree murder, reckless endangerment, unlawful imprisonment and three counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
Her mother, Renner, 75, is charged with manslaughter and endangering the welfare of a child. Kelly’s daughter, Seymore, 24, is charged with unlawful imprisonment and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.
All three women have pleaded not guilty, per WABC-TV. Prosecutors say investigators recovered extensive photographic and video evidence from Kelly’s cellphone and cloud-based accounts “documenting the alleged prolonged abuse and torture of the victim, which included prolonged restraint, physical injuries, and lack of medical care for those injuries dating back to January 2025.”
Seymore’s criminal defense attorney, Katherine Fernandez, declined a request for comment from Us on October 27. Attorneys separately representing Kelly and Renner in their criminal cases did not return requests for comment.
What The Lawsuit Says About Alleged Abuse and Missed Warning Signs
The federal complaint, filed by Jor’Dynn’s mother, accuses Suffolk County and its Child Protective Services of placing Jor’Dynn with Kelly without properly vetting her and failing to recognize later signs of abuse.
It also names the Bayport-Blue Point School District as a defendant, alleging that staff at Academy Street Elementary did not report red flags to New York State’s child abuse hotline.
School district Superintendent Robert E. Haas said in a statement provided to Us that the district is unable to comment due to the pending litigation. Suffolk County did not return a request for comment.
According to the lawsuit, Jor’Dynn told a school counselor in January 2025 that Kelly had slapped her shoulder and thrown food at her, and that Kelly had been hitting a 3-year-old child in the home.
The following month, the girl went to the school nurse with marks on her face and asked the nurse “not to call mom,” referring to Kelly, because “mom will get mad at her,” the complaint states. “No one reported the marks or Jor’Dynn’s fear of Kelly” to the state hotline or CPS, according to the filing.
Prosecutors say Jor’Dynn missed about 40 days of school between January and June 2025. “Kelly allegedly provided fabricated excuses” for the absences, the district attorney’s office said, including “different illnesses, deaths in the family, and a trip to Disneyworld — all of which were allegedly used to conceal the abuse.”
The lawsuit describes a June 2025 video from Kelly’s phone that “shows Jor’Dynn naked in a bathtub with feces deliberately spread across her body and face and a soiled washrag in her mouth, trembling and crying hysterically, while Kelly threatened to show the video to the judge and have her removed from the home.”
Another video recorded December 28, 2025 — a day before Jor’Dynn died — allegedly showed Renner lying in an empty bathtub holding the girl, who “was limp, moaning, incoherent, and in medical distress,” the filing states.
Body Exhumed Amid Investigation
Jor’Dynn’s body has been exhumed in connection with the ongoing criminal investigation, according to prosecutors, per WABC-TV.
Portia Duncan gave the district attorney’s office permission to exhume her daughter’s remains, Heather Palmore, an attorney representing her, told the TV station.
“We don’t know why they asked for the exhumation of Jor’Dynn’s body. In my experience as a former prosecutor, there may be things or evidence they are looking to uncover,” Palmore said to the TV station.
The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office declined to share details, telling News 12 Long Island, “As this is an open case, there is no additional information to provide at this time.”
Addressing reporters about the lawsuit on Tuesday, Duncan said, “If I would have known the hands that were taking care of my daughter, it never would have happened,” WABC-TV reported. “The mistreatment, the neglect, it just never would have been if I had known the care she was going under,” she added.
The civil case, which seeks an unspecified amount in damages, is being handled by attorneys with the Cochran Firm, the Palmore Law Group, Mesidor PLLC and the Law Offices of LaWanda J. Williams.
This story was compiled with the help of AI tools and edited by journalists.
If you or someone you know is experiencing child abuse, call or text Child Help Hotline at 1-800-422-4453.
