SCHENECTADY, NY — A New York man has admitted to starving his 5-year-old daughter to death while keeping her locked inside a bedroom.

Robert Buskey Jr., 35, pleaded guilty on Jan. 23, 2026, in Schenectady County Court to second-degree murder and criminal sale of a controlled substance to a child, according to the Schenectady County District Attorney’s Office. The plea was entered before Judge Matthew J. Sypniewski.

Under the terms of the agreement, Buskey will receive the maximum sentence allowed by law: 25 years to life in prison for the murder conviction, plus an additional two years for the drug charge, for a total sentence of 27 years to life, prosecutors said. Sentencing is scheduled for March 27, 2026, at 9:30 a.m.

As part of the plea deal, Buskey waived his right to appeal, and an order of protection will be issued barring him from any contact with his now-5-year-old son, according to the district attorney’s office.

In court, Buskey admitted that “under circumstances evincing a depraved indifference to human life,” he recklessly engaged in conduct that created a grave risk of serious injury or death to his daughter, Charlotte, ultimately causing her death, prosecutors said.

First responders were called to Buskey’s Elmer Avenue home on April 14, 2024, for a report of an unresponsive child, according to authorities. Inside, they found what prosecutors later described as deplorable conditions. Charlotte’s emaciated body was discovered inside a locked bedroom, while Buskey’s 3-year-old son was found confined inside a makeshift cage in the dining room area, according to the investigation.

Investigators determined that both children had been isolated from the outside world for months. They were no longer seeing family members, attending medical appointments, or enrolled in school, according to the Schenectady County District Attorney’s Office. Charlotte had been locked inside her bedroom, while her brother was kept in a confined enclosure elsewhere in the home.

“Their world shrunk to the confines of Mr. Buskey’s deplorable home, and ultimately, for Charlotte, the confines of her bedroom in which Mr. Buskey kept her locked, and Jackson, in his cage, so Mr. Buskey could do drugs, play video games, and not be bothered by his children,” prosecutors said.

Evidence showed Buskey installed a lock on the outside of Charlotte’s bedroom door and later reinforced it after she attempted to escape, authorities said. Inside the room, Charlotte had no bed and was confined to a small pack-and-play without adequate food or water. Medical findings later confirmed she died from severe dehydration and starvation.

Both children tested positive for cocaine, prosecutors said. Buskey also pleaded guilty to giving a narcotic drug to his young son, which formed the basis for the additional felony charge.

“The resolution in this case rightfully gives this defendant the maximum punishment allowed by law for the murder of his daughter,” said Christina Tremante-Pelham, chief of the Schenectady County Homicide Bureau, according to the district attorney’s office. She said the plea also spares first responders and prosecutors from having to relive the trauma of the case.

Schenectady County District Attorney Robert M. Carney described the case as one of two horrific child deaths the community endured in 2024, alongside the death of 11-month-old Halo Branton. Carney said both cases reflected conduct that was “depraved” and demonstrated a complete disregard for human life.

“Neither of these parents may have intended to cause the death of their child, but both exhibited the utter indifference and wickedness necessary to be convicted of depraved mind murder,” Carney said, according to the district attorney’s office. “Like all children, these two innocents undoubtedly loved a parent who, in each case, couldn’t have cared less about them.”