A Long Island mother is taking legal action against Suffolk County after investigators said her daughter was tortured and killed by her legal guardian. Portia Duncan came to Melville flanked by her lawyers to express grief and regret over the death of her 7-year-old daughter, Jor’Dynn. “Th ere’s not a day that goes by that I don’t cry, that I don’t think about my daughter and fault myself,” Duncan said at a press conference Tuesday. Duncan’s past drug abuse resulted in Jor’Dynn being placed in foster care in a Bayport home in Jan. 2025. Eleven months later, Jor’Dynn was dead. Suffolk prosecutors said she was the victim of months of systematic cruelty and sadistic abuse. Emily Kelly, the court-appointed guardian for Jor’Dynn and the fiancée of Jor’dynns biological father, was charged with her murder. Kelly’s mother and adult daughter are also facing criminal charges in Jordynn’s death. “Suffolk county, their child protective services, the Bayport School District and their agents, their employees, failed Jor’Dynn Duncan,” said Duncan’s lawyer, Derek Sells. Duncan’s attorneys insisted on Tuesday that others must share blame in the young girl’s death as well, as they announced plans to sue Suffolk County and the Bayport-Blue Point School District for $250 million. “If somebody would have done something maybe we would not be here,” said attorney Lawanda Williams. The lawyers allege that no school officials reported Jor’Dynn had missed 40 days of school in six months, nor did they report her coming to class wearing makeup to mask the abuse. They also claim the county failed to properly vet Kelly as a guardian, and are guilty of racial bias in choosing her over others close to Jor’dynn. Kelly is white; Duncan is Black. “We are here to make sure everybody sees Jor’Dynn today,” said Marjorie Mesidor, one of Duncan’s attorneys. Both the county and the school district declined comment, citing pending legal matters. The three woman charged criminally have all pleaded not guilty. “I miss her dearly,” Duncan said through tears. “I’m very upset she’s been taken from me … I just want justice for my daughter.”  ...read more read less