Kourtney Malinda Eutsey adoptive mom charged with criminal homicide in death of Renesmay Eutsey, missing Fayette County, Pennsylvania girl. Foster mom going by Kourtney Shipley had claimed girl had ‘wandered’ away only for the girl to be found emaciated and with bruising partially submerged in the river.
A foster mother has been charged in the death of a missing ‘special needs’ 9 year old Fayette County girl after her body was located in the river early Thursday morning with Pennsylvania authorities determining that the adoptive mother had caused her death.
Renesmay Eutsey was found partially submerged in the Youghiogheny River near Smithton, about 40 miles southeast of Pittsburgh and 20 miles south of her home in Dunbar according to the Fayette County District Attorney’s Office.
Fayette County adoptive mom observed killing special needs girl by other children
Kourtney Malinda Eutsey, 31, was arrested after her adoptive mom and her female partner reported the ‘special needs child’ missing from her Dunbar home Wednesday afternoon.
It was while interviewing the other children living at the home that investigators were told that they saw ‘mommy,’ kill Reenesmay, according to court documents obtained by the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The children stated seeing the adoptive parent kill the 9 year old girl and putting her in a plastic container the night before according to court documents.
‘I’m never going to see my baby sister again because she’s in heaven,’ one of the children told police, according to the complaint.
Another child told authorities that she heard Renesmay on Tuesday night ‘screaming and crying’ outside of her bedroom. When she went out to see what was going on, she saw Eutsey and her girlfriend yelling at Renesmay and kicking her ‘in the stomach.’
Adoptive parent and partner claimed missing 9 year old girl ‘wandering away’
When the two women saw the girl watching them, Eutsey’s girlfriend punched her in the mouth, according to the complaint.
The girl told police she then saw Renesmay’s body stuffed into a black garbage bag that was then put inside a plastic tote.
Eutsey and her partner initially claimed that the 9 year old girl had ‘wandered’ away with the adoptive mother saying she had burned Renesmay’s back in the bathtub last week, and that the wound may have become infected. The girl vomited and choked Tuesday night and despite her efforts to save her, died, she claimed.
She said she was too scared to call 911 because she ‘did not want to get in trouble due to the victim’s burn and how skinny she looked,’ police wrote.
Eutsey later led investigators to Renesmay’s body on the riverbank where she was located just on 2 a.m. Thursday.
The child’s cause of death has not yet been released, but Fayette County District Attorney Michael Aubele said it was clear that Renesmay had been abused, adding that she looked malnourished and had several bruises and cigarette burns on her body.
‘It’s very apparent that this girl suffered,’ Aubele said according to WPXI.
Charging documents stated the special needs girl dying ‘due to physical abuse and lack of seeking medical treatment.’
Eutsey has since been charged with homicide, the Fayette County District Attorney’s Office said.
In addition to criminal homicide, Eutsey faces charges of aggravated assault with attempt to cause injury with extreme indifference, aggravated assault of a victim less than 13 and concealing the death of a child, WTAE reported.
Eutsey was arraigned on Thursday and ordered held in Fayette County Prison without bond because she is considered a ‘threat to self and others,’ according to court documents.
Her girlfriend has not been charged with any crimes.
The Westmoreland County coroner is now scheduled to determine how Renesmay Eutsey died.
Children & Youth Services has removed the other children from the home.
