Inset: Jor’Dynn Duncan (GoFundMe). Background: The Walt Disney World castle in Orlando, Fla. (WKMG/YouTube).
A New York family, described as “sadistic” by prosecutors, reportedly deceived a school by claiming they were taking a young girl on a trip to Walt Disney World, only to keep her home and subject her to severe abuse.
According to the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, 7-year-old Jor’Dynn Duncan never made it to “The Most Magical Place on Earth.” Instead, her guardians are accused of confining her and subjecting her to such brutal treatment that she succumbed to a “massive untreated infection” resulting from sharp force injuries.
The DA’s office revealed in a press release that the autopsy conducted by the Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s Office uncovered approximately 90 injuries on Jor’Dynn’s body at the time of her death.
District Attorney Raymond Tierney characterized the murder of Jor’Dynn as a “brutal” and “cruel” act against a “defenseless, innocent child.” The child had been entrusted to the care of Emily Kelly, 50, her mother Barbara Renner, 75, and Kelly’s biological daughter, Elyssa Seymore.
Tierney explained that the family had been given full custody of Jor’Dynn in April 2025, as Kelly was engaged to her father. Over the course of nearly a year, the family allegedly subjected her to continuous torture, confinement, and abuse, leading to her death in late December 2025.
“This was not an isolated incident,” Tierney stated. “It was a prolonged period of alleged systematic cruelty and sadistic abuse, meticulously documented. The child was allegedly left to die while these individuals watched her condition worsen.”
According to the DA’s office, Jor’Dynn missed school at least 40 times between January 2025 and June 2025. “Kelly allegedly provided fabricated excuses involving different illnesses, deaths in the family, and a trip to Disney World — all of which were allegedly used to conceal the abuse,” Tierney says.
Kelly called 911 on the morning of Dec. 29, 2025, to report that Jor’Dynn was “in cardiac arrest,” according to the DA’s office. Paramedics and authorities arrived to the scene to find the child unconscious. She was transported to NYU Langone Hospital-Suffolk, where she was pronounced dead.
“No child should ever endure such horror,” Tierney says. “We will seek justice for Jor’Dynn.”
Kelly, Renner and Seymore were all arrested and charged Wednesday.
Kelly faces charges of second-degree murder, reckless endangerment, unlawful imprisonment and child endangerment; Renner is charged with second-degree manslaughter and child endangerment; Seymore is charged with unlawful imprisonment and child endangerment. They’re all due back in court on June 23.
