Daijiworld Media Network – New York

New York, May 22: A Brooklyn woman has been sentenced to 20 years to life in prison for drowning her three young children in the Atlantic Ocean near Coney Island in 2022.

Erin Merdy, 34, had earlier pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of her children — seven-year-old Zachary, four-year-old Liliana, and three-month-old Oliver.
The sentence was pronounced on Wednesday.

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez described the case as deeply tragic and said no punishment could truly measure the loss suffered by the family.

“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 in a statement.

The incident came to light in the early hours of September 12, 2022, after relatives alerted police over fears that Merdy intended to harm the children.

Police later found Merdy barefoot and drenched along the Coney Island boardwalk, around two miles away from her residence. According to prosecutors, she repeatedly told officers that the children were gone and expressed remorse.

Hours later, the bodies of the three children were recovered from the shoreline near the boardwalk, close to the stadium used by the Brooklyn Cyclones baseball team.

The New York City medical examiner later ruled the deaths as homicides caused by drowning.

Investigators also recovered surveillance footage allegedly showing Merdy walking toward the ocean with the children shortly before 1 am on the night of the incident.

At the time, family members had reportedly suggested that Merdy may have been suffering from postpartum depression.