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NEW YORK — The body of 7-year-old Jor’Dynn Duncan has been exhumed months after prosecutors say she endured systematic cruelty and abuse before her death, according to her mother’s attorney.
Duncan died Dec. 29 after prosecutors say she was tortured and abused inside a small home on Oak Street in Bayport, New York.
Her mother’s attorney, Heather Palmore, said Portia Duncan gave the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office authorization to exhume her daughter’s body.
“We don’t know why they asked for the exhumation of Jor’Dynn’s body. In my experience as a former prosecutor, there may be things or evidence they are looking to uncover,” Palmore said.
Palmore said Duncan’s mother is emotional over the exhumation but understands that it is a necessary part of getting to the truth and justice for her daughter.
“She’s devastated, it’s a nightmare for her, her family and those who loved Jor’Dynn,” Palmore said.
According to prosecutors, the young girl endured months of alleged systematic cruelty and sadistic abuse, much of which was recorded on a cellphone, before dying from a massive untreated infection from her injuries.
The Suffolk County Medical Examiner’s Office said the 7-year-old had about 90 injuries on her body at the time of her death.
Duncan’s legal guardian, Emily Kelly; Kelly’s mother, Barbara Renner; and Kelly’s daughter, Elyssa Seymore, are facing charges in connection with the child’s death. All three previously pleaded not guilty.
“Any reasonable person would have been able to conclude that something was wrong here,” Palmore said.
The second grader had been taken out of her mother’s custody after an alleged failed drug test. In July, attorneys for Portia Duncan filed a notice of claim alleging the county, Bayport-Blue Point School District and others were negligent in monitoring the child’s health and safety and failed to intervene.
Palmore said that a lawsuit will be filed shortly.
“It will be very clear that the institutions that were set in place and that we rely on to take care of children when their parents can’t, that they failed her,” Palmore said.
The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office declined to comment. The three women charged in the case are awaiting trial.
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