Brooklyn mother admitted killing her children in the ocean near the boardwalk
BROOKLYN, N.Y. — A Brooklyn mother who admitted drowning her three young children in the waters off Coney Island was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years to life in prison in a case that stunned New York and left three children dead along the shoreline near their home.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced that 34-year-old Erin Merdy of Coney Island was sentenced by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun after pleading guilty in March to three counts of first-degree murder.
Prosecutors said the sentence was imposed over their objection as they sought the strongest possible punishment in the deaths of the children.
The victims were identified as Zachary Merdy, 7, Liliana Stephens Merdy, 4, and Oliver Bondarev, 3 months old.
According to investigators, Merdy took the children to the beach near West 35th Street in Coney Island shortly after midnight on Sept. 12, 2022, and drowned them in the ocean.
Authorities said that at approximately 1:25 a.m., Merdy began walking alone from the beach toward the Brighton Beach apartment of the father of her youngest child, more than two miles away.
During that time, relatives became alarmed after Merdy called family members while upset and refused to explain where the children were, prosecutors said. Family members and the child’s father began searching for her and contacted 911.
Police launched a search and at about 4:30 a.m. found the children unresponsive and wet on the shoreline near West 35th Street. The children were transported to Coney Island Hospital, where they were pronounced dead.
Investigators said family members later found Merdy in Brighton Beach wet and barefoot. According to the investigation, she repeatedly stated that the children were gone and that she was sorry.
District Attorney Gonzalez called the deaths heartbreaking and said no sentence could measure the loss suffered by the children’s loved ones.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Ernest Chin, deputy chief of the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Homicide Bureau, under the supervision of Homicide Bureau Chief Leila Rosini.
Key Points
- Erin Merdy was sentenced to 20 years to life for drowning her three children
- The children were found dead near the Coney Island shoreline in September 2022
- Prosecutors said the children were ages 7, 4, and 3 months old
