7-year-old girl’s death raises questions about custody decisions, missed warning signs
Prosecutors say Jor’dynn Duncan was subjected to sustained maltreatment while living with her father’s fiancée, Emily Kelly, who has been charged with her murder.
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A 7-year-old girl endured months of alleged abuse before her death in December 2025, in a case that is now raising concerns about child placement policies and whether warning signs were overlooked.
Prosecutors say Jor’dynn Duncan was subjected to sustained maltreatment while living with her father’s fiancée, Emily Kelly, who has been charged with her murder. Authorities have also charged Kelly’s mother and daughter in connection with the case.
According to court documents, the alleged abuse began well before Duncan came under Kelly’s full custody. Prosecutors wrote that “evidence of maltreatment was uncovered as early as January 17, 2025,” but said the situation escalated after April 2025, when Kelly was granted full custody of the child. It was at that point, they allege, that “the abuse and torture really started to unfold.”
Duncan had been placed in the home under the state’s “kinship first” policy, which prioritizes placing children who need foster care with relatives or close family connections rather than in traditional foster placements. While the approach is intended to maintain family ties, experts say the policy can carry risks if proper oversight is not maintained.
“They gave her custody so they’re trying to keep the chain of family together,” said David Sarni, a criminal justice expert at John Jay College. “Is that worth it sometimes? As this case goes, it wasn’t the best choice there.”
Investigators say Duncan missed more than 40 days of school, including most of May 2025. Prosecutors allege that Kelly provided a series of explanations for those absences, including illness, a death in the family, and even a trip to Disney World.
While missing school is not itself a crime, Sarni said such a pattern should have triggered closer scrutiny.
“Being absent from school isn’t criminal,” he said, “but there should have been some sort of trigger somewhere along the line where some sort of investigation would take place and make a home visit.”
The Bayport-Blue Point School District declined to comment on the case, citing student privacy laws and the ongoing criminal investigation.
