The birth mother of a 7-year-old Long Island girl who died after allegedly suffering months of abuse plans to sue Suffolk County, claiming officials ignored repeated warning signs before her death.
Attorneys representing Portia Duncan, the mother of Jor’Dynn Duncan, filed claims against Suffolk County and the Bayport-Blue Point School District seeking $250 million dollars in damages.
The Notice of Claim alleges the County, Bayport Bluepoint School District and others were negligent in monitoring her health, safety and failed to intervene and did not properly vet Emily Kelly, Jor’Dynn’s legal guardian.
The notice of claim is the first step before filing a lawsuit.
Jor’Dynn missed 40 days of school from January to June in 2025 and when she did go it was alleged she was wearing makeup to cover the abuse.
“If I can turn back time, I would have done things so much different,” Duncan said.
The second grader was taken out of her mother’s custody after an alleged failed drug test.
I might have been an addict, but I was a d*** good mother to my kids,” Duncan said.
The notice of claim accuses the parties of acting with gross negligence, deliberate indifference, emotional distress, and racial discrimination in the monitoring of the child.
“Jordan was not abused when CPS removed her from a black caretaker,” attorney Derek Sells.
“Well not a day that goes by that I don’t cry, that I think about my daughter and I don’t fault myself,” Duncan said.
The family alleges county social services officials were negligent, placing Jor’Dynn in an abusive home and failing to intervene despite multiple warnings. Jor’Dynn died on December 29.
Three generations of women, who are all related, pleaded not guilty in the case.
“A house full of monsters in disguise,” Duncan said.
Emily Kelly, 50, her mother, Barbara Renner, and Kelly’s daughter, Elyssa Seymore, appeared in court last month.
Prosecutors say she endured prolonged neglect and abuse, much of which was recorded on a cellphone, before dying from an infection from her injuries.
The 7-year-old had about 90 injuries on her body at the time of her death, according to the Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s Office.
The Suffolk County district attorney said the child died after months of alleged systematic cruelty and sadistic abuse that was meticulously documented.
Kelly is being charged with second-degree murder.
Kelly is the fiancée of the child’s father, who is in prison. She gained full custody of the 7-year-old in April 2025.
The three women are facing a slew of charges. Kelly’s 75-year-old mother is being charged with second-degree manslaughter, and her 24-year-old daughter is charged with unlawful imprisonment.
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