‘Adoptive parent’ of 9-year-old is facing abuse allegations in addition to murder charge

The body of Renesmay Eutsey was discovered early Thursday in the Youghiogheny River.

By HALEY DAUGHERTY
TribLive

A Fayette County woman is charged with homicide and multiple other felonies after a 9-year-old from Dunbar was found dead Thursday morning.

Kourtney Eutsey, 31, of Dunbar was charged Thursday with abuse of a corpse, aggravated assault and concealing the death of a child in addition to the murder charge.

Renesmay Eutsey, 9, was reported missing Wednesday afternoon. At the time, authorities reported she was last seen in the area of her home in the 100 block of Third Street in Dunbar around 2 a.m.

According to a criminal complaint, state police were called to the home at noon on Wednesday to help find Renesmay, who authorities say had special needs.

According to the complaint, a woman at the home told police she put Renesmay and other children in the home to bed around 2:30 a.m.

The woman told police she was awakened by a different child around noon Wednesday and walked to the victim’s room, which was empty.

The complaint states the woman told police the other children in the house said Renesmay had talked about running away. While police waited for a search warrant, one of the children in the house apologized to troopers and said she had not told the truth before adding, “I’m never going to see my baby sister again because she’s in heaven,” court papers state.

Troopers say another sibling told them Eutsey killed her sister and put Renesmay in a tote.

Police say they also received a phone call to the state police station from an associate of the family, advising police that a third child in the household claimed “mommy” killed Renesmay. Eutsey is described by police as an “adoptive parent.”

Just before 4 a.m. Thursday, Pennsylvania State Police posted on the social media site X that Ren esmay had been found. A report released by Westmoreland County Coroner Tim Carson confirmed the girl’s death, saying her body had been found partially submerged in the Youghiogheny River near Smithton.

The cause of death is pending an autopsy.

Police say one child from the house told them she last saw Renesmay alive Tuesday night around 10 p.m.

The child told troopers, according to court papers, she heard Eutsey and the other woman say “they were going to take (the victim) to a river ‘far, far away.’” The child told police she heard Renesmay screaming and then saw Eutsey and the other woman yelling at her before kicking her.

Court papers state the child told police she saw Renesmay in a black garbage bag that was inside a broken tote carried by Eutsey. The child told police it looked like her sibling was sleeping.

Police interviewed Eutsey Wednesday night. They say Eutsey told them Renesmay had burned her back in a bathtub the previous week but she did not seek medical help for Renesmay.

Eutsey told police Renesmay began choking and that she spent 20 to 30 minutes trying to clear her mouth and perform CPR. She said Renesmay died during those efforts. According to the complaint, Eutsey told police she worried about calling 911 because she didn’t want to get into trouble due to the burn and how “skinny” Renesmay looked.

She then told police she put the victim into a black bag and then a tote and put her along the Youghiogheny River.

The other woman had not been charged as of early Thursday afternoon.

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