The 30-year-old Brooklyn mom, Erin Merdy, was grappling with financial and custody issues apart from suffering with mental-health issues. Merdy is suspected of drowning her three kids off a Coney Island beach in the early hours of Monday.
The kids, identified as 3-month-old Oliver, 4-year-old Liliana and 7-year-old Zachary, were found lying unconscious on the sand around 5 a.m by the authorities. According to the police the efforts to revive them were futile.
Merdy Informed Kin About Drowning Her Three Kids
The New York Post reported that the in a call made to her relatives, Merdy said that she "drowned all three kids." The concerned relatives then called the police around 1 a.m. on Monday. The caller told the police that they suspected that the drunk mother of three may have done something to harm her children.
When the police reached the spot, they found a dazed Merdy walking barefoot through the sand wearing a bathrobe. The authorities also the unresponsive children lying along the shoreline, barely three blocks away from their home on Neptune Avenue. They were pronounced dead at Coney Island Hospital, according to the outlet.
According to the authorities, Merdy was taken to the 60th Precinct stationhouse for questioning as the investigation continues. The suspect has no past criminal history or arrest record.
Merdy Was Struggling with Financial Issues
The mother of three, who was staying at Neptune Avenue apartment has stopped paying rent since July 2021 and owed more than $10,000 in rent. Following the expiration of state's COVID-19 eviction moratorium expired in January, she was facing eviction threat, as per the court records.
Speaking to The Post, Merdy's relatives revealed that she was undergoing legal battle with her partner over the custody of 7-year-old Zachary. "He had issues with the way she was raising the child, from what I understand. She kind of went off the grid after that, changed her numbers. She wasn't on social media — at least not to the point that I could find her," Levy Stephen, Merdy's uncle told the outlet.
Speaking to Daily News, Dine Stephen, Merdy's aunt, revealed that she was struggling with the kids. "I knew she was struggling in the sense she was trying to find her way through life. 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. ... It was the mental issues that took over," she said.
Calling Merdy an artsy person, Stephen revealed that she had three kids from different partners. "She's a creative type. She's very intelligent. Her decisions were just kind of out there. She never gave herself time after a relationship to heal. You don't have to have a kid with every guy you date. She just wasn't equipped to deal with the stress of children. She loved her children to no end," she went on to add.
