Insets: Kourtney Eutsey and Renesmay Eutsey (Fayette County District Attorney’s Office). Background: The Youghiogheny River in Fayette County, Pa., where Kourtney Eutsey allegedly dumped her daughter Renesmay Eutsey on the river’s shore (KDKA).
A Pennsylvania foster mom is facing criminal charges for allegedly concealing the death of a 9-year-old girl in her custody and dumping her body along the bank of a river in a tote bag “like she was garbage,” according to cops and the child’s biological mother.
“Why put her in a tote, in a garbage bag, and throw her away like she didn’t mean anything?” asked Christina Benedetto, biological mom of Renesmay Eutsey, in an interview with local CBS affiliate KDKA. “She meant something, at least to us,” Benedetto said. “She meant everything to us.”
Kourtney Eutsey, 31, is facing multiple charges — including homicide, abuse of a corpse and endangering the welfare of a child — in connection with the alleged disposal of Renesmay’s body on the “shore bank” of the Youghiogheny River in Fayette County, according to her criminal complaint, which was obtained by Law&Crime on Thursday.
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The child, who had been in Eutsey’s custody since 2019, was reported missing on Wednesday, prompting Pennsylvania State Police to launch a search, cops say. Eutsey is described as a blood relative who was also caring for her own children — ages 7, 4 and 2 — at the time of Renesmay’s death.
As officers were preparing to search Eutsey’s home for any signs of Renesmay, a small child allegedly approached them and “apologized for not telling the truth” about what allegedly happened to Renesmay, the affidavit says.
“I’m never going to see my baby sister again because she’s in heaven,” the child told cops, alleging that Eutsey killed Renesmay and then put her body in a tote, per the affidavit.
The sibling claims to have “overheard” Eutsey talking with another adult about taking Renesmay to a river “far, far away,” according to the child. “[The child] stated that the only reason she came out of the room she was in was because she heard the victim screaming and crying and thought she needed help with something,” the affidavit says.
Eutsey and the adult were allegedly “yelling at the victim and kicked her in her stomach,” the affidavit alleges. The sibling reportedly told cops, “[Renesmay] is dead now. I’m never gonna see her again. I miss her. She probably is alive. She might be alive.”
Police asked the child what they were talking about, and they allegedly told investigators that she didn’t know what dying was until a family member told her. “When she saw the victim, her lips were white and looked like she was sleeping,” the affidavit says.
Renesmay weighed just 45 pounds when police found her Thursday, according to officials. Her body showed signs of abuse and neglect, as well as cigarette burns, including one that “might have become infected,” although the girl apparently never received medical treatment.
“Eutsey explained she was worried to call 911 and did not want to get into trouble due to the victim’s burn and how skinny she looked,” the affidavit alleges. “Eutsey placed the victim’s body into a black bag, which was then placed in a tote. The tote was carried to her vehicle (dark blue Kia Sorento, bearing Pennsylvania registration MSD3655). Eutsey drove to the Dawson area, then followed the river towards Perryopolis before stopping at a ‘pull off’ along the river. The victim’s body, in the black bag, was placed in the river, along the shore bank.”
Renesmay’s cause of death has not been released yet by local officials. Eutsey’s three biological children have since been removed from her home and are now under the care of another relative.
