NY Parents Face Justice After 3-Year-Old Dies from Lice Infestation and Neglect

A 3-year-old girl died from a lethal lice infestation after being subjected to appalling neglect in her family's filthy home, leading a furious judge to deliver severe sentences to her parents.

Joycelynn Ann Dylewski perished due to the squalid conditions in the Corinth apartment of her parents, Matthew Dylewski, 34, and Samantha Dylewski, 33, on February 19, 2025. Investigators discovered bugs crawling on her face and scalp.

A cockroach fell from her winter hat when it was removed, and her teeth were found “rotten and black.”

The couple faced prison sentences of up to four years this month for their actions.

“You failed as a parent,” Saratoga County Judge James Davis told Matthew Dylewski during sentencing, imposing a 1 1/3- to four-year prison term.

“Your entire job was to keep her safe.”

Joycelynn suffered from anemia, which damaged her heart and organs due to the lice infestation. She was also administered clonidine, a blood pressure medication, according to Saratoga County Sheriff Jeffrey Brown.

The combination of these factors contributed to her tragic death.

“She was a 3-year-old, and you failed in the most horrific way,” Davis stated. “She was completely reliant upon you. This was completely preventable, and it’s unconscionable.”

The hoarder home was filled with garbage and debris, so filthy that authorities condemned the property.

The negligent parents pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide earlier this year.

“I totally wish that it didn’t happen,” Matthew Dylewski lamented at his sentencing. “I wish it would be that I died instead of my daughter. I still think about it. Nothing is ever going to change. I still want to die so I can be with her.”

Samantha Dylewski received her sentence on June 8 from the same judge who sentenced her husband.

“Your daughter suffered over a long period of time,” Davis remarked. “Even the other children could see that she suffered because of your neglect. It’s a gift to have a child. You had several children, and all of them suffered at your hands.”

Both parents are barred from contacting their four surviving children until 2038.

“As their mother, it’s my duty to protect them from harm, and I failed,” Samantha Dylewski stated at her sentencing.