Court records: Jor'Dynn Duncan, 6, told school officials her guardian hit her 11 months before she died

A 6-year-old Jor'Dynn Duncan told school staff that Emily Kelly "hit her shoulder" three months before a Suffolk family court judge granted the Bayport woman full custody of the girl, the Suffolk District Attorney's Office has revealed in new court records.

The abuse allegation was reported to Child Protective Services about 11 months before the Dec. 29, 2025, death of Jor'Dynn, who prosecutors also now say had trace levels of the controlled substance ketamine in her system, discovered during an autopsy.

The revelations come as prosecutors argue against an effort by Kelly to have her depraved indifference murder charge dismissed.

"Emily Kelly's actions on Dec. 28-29, 2025, weren't just abhorrent and deeply troubling, nor did Emily Kelly fall egregiously short of what is expected from an ordinary person," Assistant District Attorney Dena Rizopoulos wrote in her response to Kelly's motion seeking dismissal of the top charge and additional relief. "Rather, Emily Kelly acted with a wicked, evil, and inhuman mind."

Prosecutors say Jor'Dynn, who died at 7 years old of a massive infection caused by sharp-force injuries to her backside and a perforated colon, told personnel at Academy Street Elementary School on Wednesday Jan. 22, 2025, that her incarcerated father's fiance, Kelly, hit her shoulder five days earlier. A  school nurse did not see any injury to that area of Jor'Dynn's body when she examined her the day of the report.

 Bayport-Blue Point schools Superintendent Robert E. Haas declined comment through a spokesperson Monday.

'Out of respect for the privacy rights of all those involved, and due to the ongoing and pending legal claim filed against it, the Bayport-Blue Point School District is unable to comment," Haas said in a statement. 

The incident was evaluated during a home visit by Suffolk Child Protective Services the day after Jor'Dynn told school officials about the incident and she was kept home from school the next day, prosecutors said.

"In April 2025, [Kelly] received custody of Jor'Dynn and CPS was no longer actively involved with the family," Rizopoulos wrote.

The new details provide further context to previous claims made by prosecutors that evidence of maltreatment of Jor'Dynn was uncovered as early as Jan. 17, 2025, but also raises new questions of why the self-reported abuse allegation and the girl's chronic absenteeism, which includes more than 11 weeks of missed school in a one-year period, did not trigger a thorough investigation into her well-being before her death. A mandatory New York State Office of Children & Family Services child fatality report states there was no CPS investigation history in the year Jor'Dynn was in Kelly's care.

Michael Martino, director of communications for Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine, declined to comment Monday.

The latest criminal court filing also includes new information that an autopsy conducted two days after Jor'Dynn's death revealed trace amounts of ketamine in her system. Ketamine is a dissociative anesthetic that has some hallucinogenic effects, according to the federal Drug Enforcement Agency. The narcotic can distort perception of sight and sound and induce a state of sedation and immobility while treating pain, the agency said.

Prosecutors offered no theory as to how the drug may have entered into the child's system in the publicly available court records.

Heather M. Palmore, one of the attorneys representing Jor’Dynn’s biological mother Portia Duncan in her legal action against Suffolk County and the Bayport-Blue Point school district, said the new allegations laid out in the prosecution’s court papers, specifically the ketamine in her system at the time of her death, are “devastating and horrific” to both Duncan and her legal team.

“Ketamine is an anesthetic that is used commonly to tranquilize animals, including horses, undergoing general surgery,” Palmore said in an interview Monday. “The positive finding of ketamine in her body just underscores how inhumane she was treated for the over a year period that she was in the care and custody of Emily Kelly, who the county placed her with. Its effects include hallucinations, out of body experiences and disassociation from reality. Jor’Dynn was tortured, plain and simple, for over a year and those who were charged with her care, including the school district and social services, failed her.”

Jor’Dynn’s mother, who struggles with drug addiction, is “devastated” by the new allegations, Palmore said. “Now adding this on top of everything she’s been going through, as a mother who lost her child, it’s unfathomable," Palmore said.

Palmore said the fact Jor’Dynn reported an instance of alleged physical abuse by Kelly to a school official, yet she remained living with Kelly, speaks to the way the school district and CPS handled Jor’Dynn’s case.

Rizopoulos wrote in this week's filing that Kelly video recorded Jor'Dynn "barely conscious, clearly disoriented, moaning, her life slipping away" in the hours before her death. Kelly, in a recorded conversation with the girl's father Derrick Dixon the evening before her death, reported the girl sitting in feces in a bathtub "not talking."

When Dixon asks to speak with Jor'Dynn, she "seemingly makes noises but nothing coherent," the prosecutor alleged.

Several hours later, Dixon, who prosecutors said suggested the girl be brought to the hospital due to concerns for her mental health, asked Kelly if Jor'Dynn was hurt.

"'No ... definitely not,'" Rizopoulos said Kelly replied.

Jor'Dynn was pronounced dead roughly 13 hours later.

Kelly's defense attorney, John LoTurco, of Hauppauge, declined to comment Monday.

The defense is seeking a dismissal of the depraved indifference murder charge against Kelly and for her to be tried separately from her mother and daughter, who are facing lesser charges in the case. Her attorneys argued in court papers filed earlier this month that the evidence presented to the grand jury was "not legally sufficient to establish that [Kelly] acted — or failed to act — with the necessary culpable mental state" to support the second-degree murder charge.

Rizopoulos, in her response, alleged  Kelly, as Jor'Dynn's legal guardian, failed to obtain adequate medical care for the child, creating "a grave risk of serious physical injury" or death.

 The prosecutor pointed to several examples where alleged signs of abuse were documented in photographic, video or text message evidence uncovered by investigators. In one July video, Jor'Dynn appears to have chemical burns along her hairline, the prosecutor wrote.

In early August messages, Kelly and her adult daughter, Elyssa Seymore, who is facing unlawful imprisonment and child endangerment charges, discuss the child's healing scars. Seymore, during the exchange, sent Kelly a link to body makeup and tattoo cover up available for purchase on Amazon, prosecutors allege.

"Worth a shot ... says scars/bruises and that black and white skin thing ... so maybe that's an answer for at least getting her back to school," Seymore wrote to Kelly, according to court records.

Other videos and messages from August suggest the women kept Jor'Dynn in a bathtub at the home for extended periods of time, records show. Videos allegedly show the girl with socks over her hands or a washcloth in her mouth while undressed in the tub, prosecutors said, and a message that  references her being "tied up" in the tub. The women also discussed avoiding the face when striking Jor'Dynn to better hide the abuse, prosecutors have said. 

Jor'Dynn was pronounced dead at NYU Langone Hospital-Suffolk in East Patchogue at 11:47 a.m. on Dec. 29, roughly 75 minutes after Kelly and her mother, Barbara Renner, who is facing manslaughter and other charges, alerted first responders to the child’s declining health, court records show.

The autopsy performed by Suffolk County Medical Examiner Dr. Odette Hall determined Jor'Dynn had a perforated bowel and infected peritoneal cavity, injuries that were just days old at the time of her death.  There were nine sharp-force injuries "clustered in and around the anus," including a four-inch wound inside the anus that led to the perforated bowel and infection, records show. The medical examiner also reported older bruises, scars and contusions on her body and "three to four" bite marks on her right arm, leg and hand. the bite marks did not appear to be from self-harm, the medical examiner reported. 

The three women were arrested May 20. Seymore and Renner also have pending motions seeking dismissal of charges.

State Supreme Court Justice John Collins on Monday adjourned the case against Kelly to Nov. 19. The judge stated on the record that her defense intends to reply to the latest filing and that Kelly will not appear in court on that date.

Newsday's Nicole Fuller contributed to this story.