A 3-year-old girl suffered such severe neglect inside her family’s filthy upstate New York home that authorities say she developed a fatal lice infestation and was later discovered with decaying teeth — prompting an outraged judge to impose a prison sentence on her parents.
Joycelynn Ann Dylewski died on Feb. 19, 2025, after investigators found insects on her face and scalp inside the Corinth apartment she shared with her parents, Matthew Dylewski, 34, and Samantha Dylewski, 33, according to the outlet.
When her winter hat was taken off, a cockroach reportedly fell from it. An investigator also described the child’s teeth as “rotten and black.”
The couple were reportedly sentenced this month to prison terms of up to four years.
“You failed as a parent,” Saratoga County Judge James Davis told Matthew Dylewski on Monday while sentencing him to 1 1/3 to four years behind bars, the Times Union reported.
“Your entire job was to keep her safe.”
Saratoga County Sheriff Jeffrey Brown reportedly said the child had anemia that harmed her heart and other organs as a result of the lice infestation, and that she had also been given clonidine, a blood pressure medication.
The Times Union reported that the combination of those conditions contributed to her death.
“She was a 3-year-old, and you failed in the most horrific way,” Davis added.
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“She was completely reliant upon you. … This was completely preventable, and it’s unconscionable, and I want you to think about that fact.”
Rooms in the hoarder home were stuffed with garbage and debris. The conditions were so disgusting that the property was condemned, WRGB reported.
The unfit parents pleaded to criminally negligent homicide earlier this year.
“I totally wish that it didn’t happen,” Matthew Dylewski whined at his sentencing, according to the Times Union.
“I wish it would be that I died instead of my daughter. I still think that to this day. … I constantly think about it. Nothing is ever going to change. I still want to die so I can be with her.”
Samantha Dylewski was hit with her sentence on June 8 by the same judge who handled her husband’s case.
“Your daughter suffered over a long period of time,” Davis said, according to the Times Union.
“Even the other children could see that she suffered because of your neglect. It’s a gift to have a child. You had several children, and all of them suffered at your hands.”
Both parents are prohibited from having any contact with their four surviving children until 2038.
“As their mother, it’s my duty to protect them from harm, and I failed,” Samantha Dylewski said at her sentencing.
