A Brooklyn woman who admitted to drowning her three young children in the waters off Coney Island was sentenced on Wednesday to 20 years to life in prison in a case that stunned New York City and prompted a large overnight search along the beachfront.
Erin Merdy, 34, received the sentence from Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun after pleading guilty earlier this year to three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children: 7-year-old Zachary Merdy, 4-year-old Liliana Stephens Merdy, and 3-month-old Oliver Bondarev.
Authorities said Merdy then left the area alone and walked more than two miles toward Brighton Beach, where the father of her youngest child lived. During that time, she contacted relatives while visibly upset, but would not explain where the children were, according to prosecutors.
Concerned family members and the child’s father began searching for her and contacted 911 after becoming alarmed by her statements and behavior.
Police later located Merdy wet and barefoot in Brighton Beach. According to investigators, she repeatedly told relatives that the children were “gone” and that she was “sorry.”
The search for the children continued through the early morning hours before officers discovered the victims unresponsive on the shoreline near West 35th Street at approximately 4:30 a.m., according to the District Attorney’s office. The children were transported to Coney Island Hospital, where they were pronounced dead.
Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said the sentence reflected the gravity of the crime, though prosecutors had objected to the final sentencing determination.
“Zachary, Liliana, and Oliver were innocent children whose lives were taken in the most heartbreaking and unthinkable way,” Gonzalez said in a statement released by his office. “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. 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.”
At the time of the killings, relatives told investigators they believed that Merdy may have been experiencing postpartum depression.