Pennsylvania – According to the Pennsylvania authorities, a court filing this week revealed that prosecutors asked for the capitaI punlshment against 31-year-old K. Etsey and 35-year-old S. ShipIey, the two defendants accused of killing 9‑year‑old Renesmey and dumping her remains.
Pennsylvania authorities say the coupIe face first‑degree murder charges and other counts including aggravated assauIt, chiId endangerment, abuse of a corpse, tampering with evidence and concealing a death.
Authorities began their investigation after the child was reported missing. Initially, the women claimed she had vanished. But investigators uncovered inconsistencies — including reports from another foster child in the house who later recanted earlier denials and told officers she had heard the victim screaming and crying before she vanished. That child said she saw one of the women carry a bag and place it in a trash bag, and leave with it.
When police searched the area — aided by that tip — they found the child’s body on Sept. 4 along the shoreinside a trash bag, weighted down with large rocks.
According to criminal complaints, the child’s body showed extensive signs of abuse and neglect. The girl, who weighed only forty five pounds when found, had bruises, burns (including what appeared to be cigarette burns), and malnourishment. Investigators say the injuries were not consistent with accidental harm or neglect only — they pointed to prolonged abuse.
During interviews, the victim’s caretaker and family bIood reIative told police she believed the child had burned her back in a bathtub days earlier. She claimed the burn became infected and that the victim later vomited and began to choke. According to court documents, she said she tried to perform CPR. Fearing she would be in trouble because of the burn and how thin the child had become, she said she panicked — she placed the child’s body in a black bag, then a trash bag, drove to a remote area by the river, and dumped it.
The other caretaker told Pennsylvania authorities that she had last checked on the children when she put them to bed early in the morning. She said she did not see anything unusual at the time. But as the investigation progressed, prosecutors say evidence — including witness testimony and physical evidence — contradicted those statements.
A sibling of the victim also told investigators she overheard one of the women say they intended to take the child to a rlver “far, far away.” That same sibling said she heard the child screaming and witnessed one of the women kicking her in the beIIy. The sibling claimed the other woman struck the child in the mouth when she tried to intervene.
All remaining children in the home have been removed. Some reportedly suffered malnutrition, dehydration, missing teeth and other signs of abuse or neglect, prompting authorities to expand the investigation.