Parents jailed over death of girl, 3, found covered in lice in filth-filled home

A judge has jailed the parents of a three year-old girl who died after enduring months of neglect inside a home that was so filthy that it was later condemned.

Matthew Dylewski, 34, and Samantha Dylewski, 33, admitted criminally negligent homicide over the death of their daughter Joycelynn Ann Dylewski in Corinth, upstate New York.

The case centerd on the conditions that Joycelynn was forced to live in before her death on February 19, 2025. Investigators described scenes that shocked even experienced officers.

When the little girl was examined, bugs were found on her face and scalp. A cockroach reportedly fell from her hat when it was removed.

Investigators also found that her teeth were ‘rotten and black’, according to local reports. It painted a truly grim and upsetting picture of the conditions she’d been forced to live in.

Authorities said that Joycelynn had developed anaemia caused by an untreated lice infestation.

The condition damaged her heart and other organs. She had also been given clonidine, a medication used to treat high blood pressure. Authorities said that the combination of those factors led to her death.

The family’s apartment had become overwhelmed with rubbish and debris, according to CBS 6 Albany. So much so that officials later had no choice but to condemn the property.

The couple each appeared separately before Saratoga County Judge James Davis for sentencing this month after pleading guilty earlier this year.

Matthew Dylewski received a prison sentence of one and one-third to four years, Albany newspaper Times Union have reported. Samantha Dylewski was handed the same sentence by the same judge days earlier.

Addressing Joycelynn’s father in court, Judge Davis didn’t hold back. ‘You failed as a parent,’ he said. ‘Your entire job was to keep her safe.’ The judge said that Joycelynn had been ‘completely reliant’ on her parents for care.

‘She was a three year-old, and you failed in the most horrific way,’ he went on. ‘This was completely preventable, and it’s unconscionable, and I want you to think about that fact.’

During his sentencing, Matthew Dylewski told the court that he thinks about his daughter constantly. ‘I totally wish that it didn’t happen,’ he said.

‘I wish it would be that I died instead of my daughter. I still think that to this day… I constantly think about it. Nothing is ever going to change. I still want to die so I can be with her.’

When Samantha Dylewski was sentenced, Judge Davis said that Joycelynn’s suffering had continued over a prolonged period. ‘Your daughter suffered over a long period of time,’ he said.

He added that even the couple’s other children had been able to see what was happening. ‘It’s a gift to have a child. You had several children, and all of them suffered at your hands,’ the judge said.

Samantha Dylewski admitted in court that she had failed in her responsibility as a parent. ‘As their mother, it’s my duty to protect them from harm, and I failed,’ she said.

The couple are also barred from having any contact with their four surviving children until 2038.