A New York mother allegedly confessed to drowning her three young kids early Monday, leading to a frantic search for the children, whose bodies were found on Coney Island in Brooklyn, WNBC-TV reports.
Authorities say the woman, 30-year-old Erin Merdy, has a history of mental health challenges but that postpartum psychosis is one possible motive, according to the New York Post.
Merdy reportedly admitted to family members that she killed the kids, identified as 7-year-old Zachary, 4-year-old Liliana and 3-month-old Oliver.
The children’s bodies were found at about 4:40 a.m. Monday along the shore and only three blocks from the family’s apartment.
Merdy’s aunt, Dine Stephen, said the family is devastated.
“They were kids,” Stephen told the Post. “They were adorable kids.”
Stephen told the Post that the family has a history of mental illness and that Merdy was struggling, “trying to find her way through life.” Stephen added that Merdy loved her children but “it was the mental issues that took over.”
“It’s someone who was struggling, and no one knew how bad the struggle was,” Stephen told the Post.
“In this family we do have a history of mental illness to varying degrees. A few of us have battled with bipolar disorder, but I didn’t know her mental struggles. I just knew she was trying to find a way for her children, a way to get on her feet,” Stephen told the Post.
Three hours before the children were found, Merdys’ sister called authorities reporting concerns that Merdy may have done something to her kids, WCBS-TV reports. No one responded when police knocked on Merdy’s door, but officers encountered the father of one of the children and he had similar concerns about the kids’ welfare.
Sources told the Post that multiple relatives called 911 alleging that Merdy “may have done something to the kids,” might also have been under the influence of drugs or alcohol, and had a history of health challenges.
Authorities then got another 911 call reporting that Merdy was found with some relatives at the Brighton Beach boardwalk. When officers arrived, they found Merdy but not the kids. She walked along the beach wearing a robe and appeared to be despondent.
“The mother was soaking wet,” NYPD Chief of Department Kenneth Corey told reporters at a news conference, according to WABC-TV.
“Whether she had been out in the rain or whether she had been in the water, again, is all speculative at this point. She was wet, she was barefoot, and she was not communicative to the officers.”
The search then intensified as police called in aviation and harbor assistance before the children’s bodies were eventually located.
“The officers immediately initiated life-saving measures including CPR on the children, and [the kids] were rushed to Coney Island Hospital, where they were regrettably pronounced deceased,” Corey told reporters, according to Post.
Images obtained by the newspaper show first responders carrying the children, whose bodies appeared lifeless.
People who knew the children told the Post they are distraught by the news.
Alfred Brown, who coached Zachary in football, described the 7-year-old as “a very bubbly kid who was full of life.”
“I’m in school with them, I’m on the field with them — I’m damn near their uncle. It’s hard right now . . . I love every kid that plays for me like my own,” Brown told the Post.
Dmitriy Volper, a neighbor in the family’s apartment building, said the deaths are “an unspeakable tragedy,” according to the Post.
As of Monday afternoon, autopsies were still ongoing and no charges had been filed. Police questioned Merdy, who was subsequently hospitalized.
Merdy was reportedly in a custody dispute with one of the children’s fathers as late as July.
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[Feature Photo: Pixabay]
