Brooklyn Mother Charged with Murder for Allegedly Drowning Her 3 Children Near Coney Island

Mar. 15, 2025

Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty

Police work along a stretch of beach at Coney Island which is now a crime scene after a mother is suspected of drowning her children in the ocean on September 12, 2022 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Three children were found unconscious on the beach near the Coney Island boardwalk early Monday morning. Detectives were trying to question the mother at the local police precinct house after she was picked up two miles down the boardwalk.

A Brooklyn motheraccused of drowningher three children near Coney Island has officially been charged with their deaths.

Erin Merdy, 30, has been arrested and charged with the murders of her three children: Zachary, 7, Lilana, 4, and Oliver, 3 months, a New York Police Department spokesperson tells PEOPLE.

On Monday at 3:13 a.m. local time, officers were called to Brighton 6th Street and Boardwalk East where they found Merdy, and discovered she may have previously been with her children, who were initially “unaccounted for,” the NYPD added in a release.

Officers later recovered the bodies of the children at West 35th Street and Boardwalk. They were “unconscious and unresponsive, along the shoreline,” per the release.

Spencer Platt/Getty

Police stand along a stretch of beach at Coney Island which is now a crime scene after a mother is suspected of drowning her children in the ocean on September 12, 2022 in New York City. Three children were found unconscious on the beach near the Coney Island boardwalk early Monday morning. Detectives were trying to question the mother at the local police precinct house after she was picked up two miles down the boardwalk.

Medical workers arrived and rushed the children to NYC Health & Hospitals/Coney Island, “where they were pronounced deceased,” the release said.

New York Police Chief of Department Kenneth Corey said at a press conference Monday that the children were found around 4:40 a.m. after a relative called 911 indicating “she was concerned that her family member may have harmed her three small children.”

“The mother was soaking wet,” Corey added. “Whether she had been out in the rain or whether she had been in the water is all speculative at this point. She was wet, she was barefoot, and she was not communicative to the officers.”

Police work along a stretch of beach at Coney Island which is now a crime scene after a mother is suspected of drowning her children in the ocean on September 12, 2022 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City. Three children were found unconscious on the beach near the Coney Island boardwalk early Monday morning. Detectives were trying to question the mother at the local police precinct house after she was picked up two miles down the boardwalk.

Police were initially called to Merdy’s apartment around 1:40 a.m. for a welfare check and met the father of one of the children who “expressed similar concerns and said he believed the woman and the children were on the boardwalk in Coney Island,” Corey said.

At the press conference, Corey said at that time that “detectives are attempting to speak with her but so far she has not said anything.”

Merdy’s aunt Dine Stephen told theDaily Beastthat Merdy had been struggling with mental health issues.

“No one expected it to get to this level,” she said in part. “But obviously, she’s a woman who needs help. She has mental problems. We ask for people to have some grace and understand that. She’s not an evil person. She has mental issues that need to be addressed.”

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Zachary’s father Derrick Merdy toldTheNew York Timesthat he had been fighting for custody of his son.

“I was trying to get my son,” he said. “Now that’s not going to happen.”

Merdy is currently undergoing psychological evaluation and it is not clear if she has legal representation who can comment on her behalf.

If you or someone you know needs mental health help, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.

source: people.com

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