Insets, from left: Matthew Dylewski, Samantha Dylewski (Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office), and Joycelynn Dylewski (The New York State Senate). Background: Images of the Dylewskis’ apartment taken by Phoenix Property Maintenance cleaning service (Facebook).
An upstate New York couple has been sentenced to prison following the death of their 3-year-old daughter inside the family’s apartment last year.
Matthew Dylewski, 34, and Samantha Dylewski, 33, each received the maximum sentence after pleading guilty to criminally negligent homicide in the death of their daughter, Joycelynn. According to local ABC affiliate WTEN, the couple was arrested after emergency responders were called to their apartment in Corinth, New York, on Feb. 19, 2025, when the parents said the child was having trouble breathing.
Joycelynn was taken to a hospital, where she was later pronounced dead. Authorities ruled her manner of death a homicide.
As investigators with the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office looked into the case, they found the living conditions inside the Dylewski apartment posed a danger not only to Joycelynn, but also to the four other children living there. Local CBS affiliate WRGB interviewed Dan Shippee, the owner of a cleaning company later hired to clean out the apartment after Joycelynn’s death and her parents’ arrests. Shippee told the station he “had no idea what I was getting into until about 45 minutes before I went over there.”
Describing what he saw inside, Shippee told WRGB, “I’ve never really been in too many places where I had to shovel so much trash off the floor. There were dead flies and bugs all over that apartment.” He also said that “people need to see to understand why that little girl died.”
The Times-Union reported that Corinth Village Building Inspector Neil Hepner called the residence “one of the worst” he had ever encountered. The apartment was condemned on the same day the Dylewskis were arraigned. Saratoga County First Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Buckley said New York State Police investigators reported that their boots stuck to the apartment floors, which were crawling with lice and other insects. The sinks were clogged, and stains covered the walls, carpeting, and floors.
According to the Times-Union, Joycelynn had a lice infestation so severe that it caused anemia. Samantha Dylewski said the child “fought her too much when she tried to apply treatment.” Authorities also found that Joycelynn’s teeth were black and decayed, her hair was matted, and clonidine, a blood pressure medication, was present in her system at the time of her death.
Buckley told the court that while Samantha Dylewski initially blamed one of her children for giving Joycelynn the clonidine, investigators found text messages proving the Dylewskis discussed giving the medication to the little girl. Joycelynn did not have a heart condition and was never prescribed clonidine.
Joycelynn was one of five children under 17 years old living in the house. She was the only child who had not received medical care, and she had not seen a doctor in the last 10 months of her life.
Samantha Dylewski and Matthew Dylewski, who was sentenced on Monday, were both given the maximum sentence of 16 months to 4 years in prison. Both parents were ordered not to have any contact with their surviving four children until June 2038.
Following Matthew Dylewski’s sentencing, New York State Sen. James Tedisco and Assemblyman Matt Simpson proposed Joycelynn’s Law, which would increase the maximum sentence for criminally negligent homicide to 20 years.
