7-year-old Jor'Dynn Duncan's alleged torture before she died detailed in text messages, DA says

Seven-year-old Jor’Dynn Duncan was tied up and put in a bathtub inside the Bayport home where she lived with her incarcerated father’s fiancee in the months before she died last December.

She was struck in the face. And she was allegedly brutally assaulted with sharp objects, causing a tear in her colon that ultimately led to a life-ending infection, Suffolk prosecutors said in court this week as three generations of women in a single Bayport family were charged in connection with her death.

As Jor’Dynn was set to start school at a Bayport elementary school last September, two of her alleged tormentors — Emily Kelly, 50, the fiancee of Jor’Dynn’s father; Kelly’s mother, Barbara Renner, 75; and Kelly’s daughter, Elyssa Seymore, 24 — fretted over how to hide the alleged abuse in text messages.

"She's a hot [expletive] mess," Seymore told Kelly, as relayed by a prosecutor in court this week. "Looks like she got beat the whole summer."

Seymore suggested they ignore Jor’Dynn moving forward.

"I think you're right," Kelly responded, according to the prosecutor. "The invisible girl."

Those text messages and others that were laid out in court Wednesday provide a chilling account of Jor’Dynn’s life with Kelly — the woman who had taken on a parental role over the second grader and is now charged with her murder. 

How Jor’Dynn ended up living with Kelly, who prosecutors said became the child’s legal guardian, has not yet been publicly detailed by authorities. Suffolk County’s Child Protective Services and Suffolk County Executive Edward P. Romaine, who oversees the troubled agency, declined to answer questions about Jor’Dynn’s case Thursday. 

Suffolk County District Attorney Ray Tierney, in a brief interview Thursday, said of Jor’Dynn: “She was an extraordinary child. She certainly deserves better.”

Asked whether his office would investigate the conduct of CPS workers in Jor’Dynn’s case — as it had following the murder of 8-year-old Thomas Valva in 2020 by his NYPD officer father and the father’s fiancee — Tierney said the criminal prosecution will play out first.

“You want to hold the primary offenders responsible,” Tierney said. Then “see if anything could have been done to stop, mitigate or prevent what happened from occurring.”

Kelly, whose attorney said she had been unemployed as she battled an autoimmune disease, pleaded not guilty Wednesday to charges of second-degree murder, unlawful imprisonment, reckless endangerment and other counts in connection with Jor'Dynn's death.

Renner was indicted on a charge of second-degree manslaughter and a misdemeanor count of endangering the welfare of a child. Seymore was indicted on a charge of first-degree unlawful imprisonment and two counts of endangering the welfare of a child.

They both also pleaded not guilty.

Kelly's defense attorney John LoTurco said his client cooperated with investigators from the beginning of the investigation and offered a voluntary surrender once it became clear she was facing charges related to the child's death.

LoTurco said Kelly had worked most of her life but was diagnosed with Lupus and was declared disabled and unable to work. He did not say what she previously did for a living.

 Kelly, who court records show had a foreclosure on a Mastic house she owned with her former husband in 2014, eventually moved back into her childhood home with her mother.

"Emily grew up in a home of law enforcement," LoTurco told state Supreme Court Justice John Collins during her arraignment Wednesday. "Her father was a highly decorated Nassau County police officer."

Other family members served in the NYPD and the local fire department, the attorney added. 

LoTurco said that while he hasn't yet been presented with all the evidence of abuse prosecutors say has been uncovered, his client in building her defense provided him with "evidence that shows the contrary."

LoTurco said that includes school records and photographs.

The attorney also pointed out that Kelly was made the girl's legal guardian.

"Family court did their due diligence and she was found to be a fit mother," LoTurco said.

He said despite claims from prosecutors that Kelly never sought help for the girl, she was the person who called 911 and she has produced receipts that she ordered Pedialyte for the girl through DoorDash.

 LoTurco said the allegations that his client treated Jor'Dynn in a deprived manner "is contrary to evidence and her good character." 

Renner’s attorney Danielle Coysh said in a statement that her client has dementia. 

“Barbara Renner is 75 years old and suffers from dementia. She has no criminal history, was not the care giver of this child, and did not cause her tragic death. Barbara Renner has no criminal culpability, and we look forward to further investigating the circumstances surrounding this matter.”

Seymore’s attorney Katherine Fernandez pointed out that her client has no prior criminal history and said she denies the allegations.

“To be clear she has not been charged nor has ever been implicated to be associated with the untimely death of Jor'Dynn Duncan on Dec. 29, 2025,” Fernandez said in a statement. “The charges of the alleged unlawful imprisonment stem from a three-day period in July of 2025.”

Prosecutors described the house where Jor’Dynn lived on Oak Street as a well-kept, two-story, three-bedroom home where four generations of the family lived.

It was the childhood home of Kelly, who took over ownership from her mother. Her father, Roger Renner, died in 2010, social security records show.

During a bail hearing Wednesday, Assistant District Attorney Dena Rizopoulos described alleged abuse that was documented in videos, text messages and on an Alexa smart speaker recording that revealed for detectives the scope of the alleged mistreatment of Jor’Dynn.

"Alexa, turn on the bedroom light," Rizopoulos said Kelly could be heard saying in the recording from 3:12 a.m. on July 27, 2025. "Get the [expletive] over here you little piece of [expletive]."

Later that morning, between 8:25 and 10:53 a.m., Kelly and Seymore exchanged text messages about an alleged beating that occurred, prosecutors said.

Kelly wrote: "I think when I backhanded her yesterday, I might have did that to her eyes."

Seymore responded: "You definitely did that to her eyes."

Kelly said: "I didn't see it until you pointed it out."

Seymore replied: "I knew you did it as soon as I saw it. Talking about allergies, LMAO."

Seymore then advised her mother that she should stop hitting Jor’Dynn in the face.

"You've gotta hit her body if you go to hit her," Rizopoulos said Seymore wrote.

 Prosecutors said they believe most of the abuse took place in a bathtub in the home, saying photos and videos taken from Kelly's cellphone show the girl in the tub. 

On Aug. 15, 2025, four months before the child's death, the two women exchanged messages suggesting the child was tied up in the tub.

Kelly: "Can you please make her stand up?"

Seymore: "How? She's tied up."

Kelly: "Tell her to stand up."

Seymore: "You got a tweezer?"

"That is just a sampling of the brutal, heinous, despicable acts uncovered during this investigation," Rizopoulos said.

The bungalow where the three defendants lived with Jor’Dynn sits on a quiet street south of Montauk Highway, seven blocks from the Great South Bay, where a sign on the front reads "The Dixon's: Est. 2026." Derrick Dixon, Jor'Dynn's father, is currently incarcerated at Sing Sing Correctional Facility on a 2024 attempted burglary conviction, state prison records show.

 A renovation project appeared to be going on in the rear of the house, where workers declined to comment.

A pillow on a rocking chair on the front porch of the home invites guests to “stay awhile.”

A small flag on the lawn reads, “always gone, never forgotten, forever loved,” an apparent nod to the tragedy that occurred inside the house nearly five months ago. 

“It’s horrific,” neighbor Shane Campbell said of the tragedy. “We’re still trying to process what’s going on.”

Campbell and his wife, Erica, recalled inviting Jor’Dynn over to play with their 9-year-old daughter but plans never came to fruition.

The couple said they worry about the impact of the girl’s passing on other kids in the community, including a family friend who was in Jor’Dynn’s class. They said they hope something can be done to remember her at Academy Street Elementary, where she attended second grade.

The Campbells remember seeing an ambulance at the home when the girl died, but they never learned the full extent of what happened. Even as news of the arrests broke Wednesday, they’ve found it too emotional to hear the details.

“It was really, really sad,” Erica Campbell said. “It’s just heartbreaking.”

Tom Lowe, who lives two doors down from the family, said he’s seen a lot in his lifetime as a Vietnam veteran and retired employee at a psychiatric hospital. News of the girl’s passing was still a lot for him to handle.

Lowe said the family mostly kept their distance from him since he moved in 13 years ago, but he does recall seeing Jor’Dynn around. 

“She was the prettiest thing,” he said.