Dunbar defendants charged in 9-year-old’s killing to undergo separate trials
The two Dunbar women accused of killing the 9-year-old girl in their care will be tried separately, according to Fayette County District Attorney Mike Aubele.
Sarah Shipley, 36, appeared in court Thursday morning for a status conference in the case.
Shipley, along with Kourtney Eutsey, 32, are accused of killing Renesmay Eutsey last September and of abusing and neglecting two other children in their care.
Aubele said in the case of a joint trial, they would be unable to use statements made by one defendant that implicated the other.
“In cases where we have either confessions or statements that would implicate criminal conduct against two parties, we will try them individually, so we don’t run into those issues,” he said. “It could cause a mistrial, or it could cause even just having a case dismissed. We don’t want that.”
Shipley and Eutsey reported Renesmay missing on the afternoon of Sept. 4. Police became suspicious after their stories failed to line up with security footage, they said at a preliminary hearing last year. They also received a witness account from one of their foster children, who recalled hearing screaming and crying, and later saw the parents carrying Renesmay’s body downstairs in a tote bag.
Eutsey later drove investigators to a remote spot on the Youghiogheny River in Westmoreland County, where they found Renesmay’s body in a garbage bag weighed down by rocks, troopers testified last year.
Aubele announced last year he will seek the death penalty against the two if they are convicted of first-degree homicide.
They are also charged with abuse and neglect of two other children in their care, who pathologists said had suffered malnourishment, the removal of their teeth with pliers, and other mistreatment.
Eutsey is next scheduled for a pretrial hearing July 9.
Shipley’s case is scheduled to go to trial starting July 9, though Aubele said he expects motions to push the trial back until 2027.
During Thursday’s hearing, attorneys discussed the progress of the case and what motions had been filed, Aubele said.
A message left with Shipley’s attorney, Brent Peck, was not returned by press time Thursday.
Aubele anticipates a hearing within the next month or two on recent defense motions, including one challenging the detention status of Shipley, who is being held without bail in the Fayette County jail. Aubele said witnesses would include a pathologist who examined the children.
Two others — Theresa Shipley, 63, of Scottdale, and Sandra Umensetter, 51, of Connellsville — are accused of ignoring signs of abuse at the home and are charged with endangering welfare of children and recklessly endangering another person. Theresa Shipley, a mental health aide at Penn Highlands-Connellsville hospital in the months before the death, is charged with another three counts of failing to report suspected child abuse as a mandatory reporter.
“It’s obviously been a very tough case,” he said. “We’re doing everything we can to keep this matter moving as fast as we can. It was her 10th birthday yesterday. Of course, we’ve been thinking about her. We’ll keep moving forward. Hopefully, we will get a resolution as quickly as possible.”
Eutsey and Sarah Shipley are charged with first-degree criminal homicide, as well as endangering the welfare of children, aggravated assault, concealing the death of a child, tampering with physical evidence and abuse of a corpse. Shipley also faces conspiracy charges for each count.