Jor'Dynn Duncan death: State report finds no fault with Suffolk CPS

Suffolk Child Protective Services did not conduct any investigations into Jor’Dynn Duncan's care in the year before her death, according to a state child fatality review released Monday, meaning the agency had received no credible reports alleging abuse or neglect during that time.

The report, released by the state Office of Children and Family Services, found no fault with CPS' handling of the case. But it provides new details about how Jor’Dynn ended up in the Bayport home of three women prosecutors accuse of abusing her: Emily Kelly, Jor’Dynn’s guardian; Kelly’s mother, Barbara Renner; and Kelly’s daughter, Elyssa Seymore.

Jor'Dynn died at age 7 on Dec. 29.

The revelation that CPS conducted no investigations into the home comes as Kelly’s attorney, John LoTurco, told Newsday the agency had been monitoring the girl’s care from late 2024, when she first went to live with Kelly, to the spring of 2025, when Kelly received permanent custody.

Taken together, that suggests CPS was unaware of any concerns about the girl’s care at the home — even though the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office said its investigation found evidence of "maltreatment" of the then-6-year-old as early as January 2025.

The district attorney's office has not disclosed the nature of that evidence or how it was discovered.

"CPS came every two weeks to the home to vet her and to observe her," LoTurco said in an interview with Newsday. From late 2024 to early 2025, he added, "they would also pick up Jor’Dynn and participate in supervised visits with her biological mother."

A state child fatality report into Jor'Dynn Duncan's death notes suggests that Suffolk CPS had received no credible complaints about the girl's well-being in the year prior.

'Trembling in fear'

Prosecutors have said the more-severe abuse allegedly began after Kelly was granted full custody, when CPS was no longer monitoring the girl. Monday’s report provided more detail than has been made public.

A video obtained by authorities taken around 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 28 showed Renner lying in an empty bathtub holding Jor’Dynn with the girl appearing "limp, moaning, incoherent and in medical distress," according to the state report.

Despite this, neither Kelly nor Renner sought medical attention until the next morning, when Jor’Dynn was already in cardiac arrest, according to the fatality report. Jor’Dynn was pronounced dead about an hour later.

A police officer who was on the scene said he thought it was "odd" the women at the house initially could not remember Jor'Dynn's name or birthday and that Renner did not show any emotion during the incident, according to the report.

An autopsy found Jor’Dynn died from an infection stemming from a perforated colon. It also found multiple "sharp force injuries." The girl also had scarring, a blunt force injury to her scalp, and bite marks on her leg, arm and hand.

A video from June 2025 showed Jor’Dynn "being exposed to extreme methods of degradation," including having a feces-soaked rag in her mouth, according to the fatality report.

"The child was observed to be trembling in fear and hysterically crying, while the stepmother was threatening to show the video to the judge and have her removed from the home," the report said, referring to Kelly as the stepmother.

That incident allegedly took place about six months after Jor’Dynn first began living with Kelly and about two months after Kelly was granted full custody.

Child fatality reviews are anonymized but Newsday identified the individuals based on the details in the report.

Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine did not respond to a call late Monday seeking comment. Romaine's spokesman, Michael Martino, also did not respond to a call.

Removed from multiple homes

Jor’Dynn was 14 months old when she was removed from the care of her mother, Portia Duncan, after a failed drug test administered by probation officers, Newsday previously reported.

Starting in 2019, Jor’Dynn lived with Kim Jackson, who was previously married to Jor’Dynn’s biological father, Derrick Dixon, who is currently incarcerated at Sing Sing Correctional Facility.

During Jor’Dynn’s time with Jackson, CPS received seven complaints related to the girl's care, according to the fatality report. Five of those complaints involved Jor’Dynn having unauthorized contact with her biological mother or "inappropriate caretakers."

CPS determined five of the seven complaints to be unfounded. The final two, from November 2024, were substantiated.

That month, a Suffolk County family court judge removed Jor'Dynn from Jackson’s care after Jackson allegedly allowed unsupervised contact with the girl's biological mother despite a court order forbidding it, according to the report.

According to Kelly's attorney, LoTurco, Kelly had petitioned the court around the same time seeking custody, at which point CPS began the process of vetting and monitoring her. That process is separate from the agency's investigations of abuse complaints.

LoTurco said Kelly was the only one seeking custody at that time, and her request was supported by Dixon, Jor’Dynn’s father.

"No one else stepped up to the plate seeking custody of Jor’Dynn," he said.

Jackson’s sister, Nicole Wilson, and others close to the family previously told Newsday they were willing to take Jor’Dynn in, though it’s unclear whether they petitioned the court for custody. Family Court records in New York aren’t available to the public.

CPS placed Jor’Dynn with Kelly on Dec. 4, 2024, according to prosecutors. However, the fatality report conflicts with that timeline, saying Jor’Dynn was moved to Kelly’s care in November 2024.

‘Really started to unfold’

Even though Jor’Dynn had been in the child welfare system for nearly six years — the five years she lived with Jackson and the first five months with Kelly — CPS stepped away once Kelly got full custody in April 2025, her attorney said.

Prosecutors say it was at that point the abuse and torture intensified.

In May 2025, Jor’Dynn missed nearly three weeks of school, according to a school calendar prosecutors included in a response to Kelly’s bail application. Between January and June 2025, Jor’Dynn missed roughly 40 days of school, prosecutors said.

Kelly told school officials Jor’Dynn had been sick, there had been a death in the family and that they had taken a vacation to Disney World, all of which prosecutors say were false.

A social worker at the school told investigators she contacted Kelly in September 2025 to offer Jor'Dynn counseling for the new school year, but Kelly declined, according to the fatality report.

Newsday reported this month that school districts in New York have no specific requirement to report chronic absences to other authorities.