Overview
- Joycelynn Ann Dylewski died on February 19, 2025, after emergency crews found her unresponsive in the family apartment in Corinth, New York, and doctors recorded fatal organ failure linked to severe anemia.
- Medical examiner reports and court testimony said months-long, untreated lice infestation and poor nutrition caused the anemia that led to Joycelynn’s death.
- Toxicology found clonidine in the child's system, and prosecutors introduced text messages and photographs showing the parents knew about treatments and the home's squalid condition.
- Matthew and Samantha Dylewski pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide and in June 2026 received the state maximum for that charge of up to four years in prison plus a court order barring contact with their four surviving children until 2038.
- Senator James Tedisco and Assemblyman Matt Simpson have introduced 'Joycelynn’s Law' to raise maximum sentences for extreme child abandonment to as much as 20 years, a proposal that could reshape how New York punishes severe neglect.