3-year-old death ruled a homicide due to acute and chronic neglect.

The judge said, “Your entire job as a parent is to keep her safe; you failed in the most horrific way.”

Insets (left and right): Matthew and Samantha Dylewski (Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office). Inset (center): Joycelynn Dylewski. Background: Photos of the Dylewskis’ apartment taken by the Phoenix Property Maintenance cleaning service (Facebook).

Matthew Dylewski, 34, and Samantha Dylewski, 33, were both handed the maximum sentence (16 months to four years in prison) after they accepted a deal and pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide in connection with the death of their daughter, 3-year-old Joycelynn.

Both parents, Matthew and Samantha Dylewski, were initially charged with five counts of endangering the welfare of a child — one for each of their five children. The four surviving children have been placed with relatives, and a protective order is in place to keep their parents away from them.

According to ABC, the Dylewskis were arrested after first responders came to their apartment in Corinth, New York, when the parents reported that their daughter was having trouble breathing.

The little girl was transferred to the hospital. She was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Her manner of death was ruled a homicide. The official cause of death was acute and chronic neglect.

She had rotting teeth, clonidine in her system that was not prescribed to her, and a long-term lice infestation that drained her blood and led to anemia. All this took a toll on her organs. She had not been taken to the doctor in almost a year.

As the Saratoga County Sheriff’s Office began its investigation, authorities found that the conditions inside the Dylewskis’ apartment were dangerous not just for Joycelynn but for the other four children in the home.

Police investigators said their boots stuck to the apartment's floors, which were overrun with lice and other insects.

The sinks were clogged, and the walls, carpets, and floors were stained.

The sheriff’s office said they both acted “in a manner likely to be injurious to the physical, mental, or moral welfare” of five children under the age of 17 years old.

The home was deemed unlivable by a code inspector for the town of Corinth.

When investigators were at the hospital after her death, they removed a hat from her head and found bugs and lice on her face, head, and in her hair.

Prosecutors said her scalp was scabbed from the lice, and her hair was matted.

A report also stated that a dead cockroach fell out of her hat, and her teeth were black.

“The conditions of the home were deplorable, Assistant District Attorney Jennifer Buckley said in court. “I think the probation officer sums this up very succinctly, sadly and very correctly. The defendant was with Joycelynn every day of her short life and ignored her medical needs, which included severe infestation of lice, rotting teeth, and overall hygiene. Both of her parents failed her. Joycelynn’s death is a tragedy. Her death never should have happened.”

“You failed as a parent,” Saratoga County Judge James R. Davis told Matthew Dylewski, 34, before ordering him to serve the maximum sentence in state prison.

“Your entire job was to keep her safe,” Davis said while imposing the sentence. “She was a 3-year-old, and you failed in the most horrific way. She was completely reliant upon you. … This was completely preventable, and it’s unconscionable, and I want you to think about that fact.”

Following Matthew Dylewski’s sentencing, New York State Sen. James Tedisco and Assemblyman Matt Simpson proposed Joycelynn’s Law, which would increase the maximum sentence for criminally negligent homicide to 20 years.

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