Coney Island mom who drowned her 3 children sentenced to prison Brooklyn Paper

Erin Merdy, 34, pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder and was sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for drowning her three children in the Atlantic Ocean in 2022. Just after midnight on September 12, 2022, she brought her 7-year-old son Zachary, 4-year-old daughter Liliana, and 3-month-old baby Oliver to the Coney Island beach near 35th Street and drowned them. She then walked barefoot toward Brighton Beach and called family members. When she could not explain where the children were, relatives contacted 911 and her father searched. Police found the apartment empty and unlocked, and later found the three children dead on the shoreline. Merdy was treated at a local hospital, questioned, and arrested two days later.

"Erin Merdy, 34, pleaded guilty in March to three counts of first-degree murder, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney's Office. Just after midnight on September 12, 2022, Merdy brought her children 7-year-old Zachary Merdy, 4-year-old Liliana Stephens Merdy, and 3-month-old Oliver Bondarev to the beach on Coney Island, near 35th Street, and drowned them in the Atlantic Ocean."

"She then walked barefoot toward Brighton Beach, according to the DA's office, and called her family members. When she could not answer questions about where her children were, relatives called 911 while her father went out to search for her. He eventually found her barefoot in Brighton Beach, per the investigation, and repeatedly told her father that the children were gone and that she was sorry."

"At the time, police said they first went to Merdy's apartment, which was empty and unlocked. They eventually found the three children dead on the shoreline. Merdy was treated at a local hospital, then taken to the local precinct for questioning. She was arrested two days after the deaths."

"Zachary, Liliana and Oliver were innocent children whose lives were taken in the most heartbreaking and unthinkable way. No sentence can fully measure the loss of a seven-year-old, a four-year-old and a three-month-old baby, or the grief their loved ones will carry forever, Gonzalez said. We sought the strongest possible accountability in this devastating case, and while nothing can bring these children back, this sentence ensures the defendant will be held responsible for taking their lives."

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