Mom Charged With Murder After Allegedly Drowning 3 Children Near Coney Island
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| NYC mom suspected of drowning her 3 kids has been charged with murder |
(AP) NEW YORK — A mother from New York City was charged with murder on Wednesday after allegedly drowning her three children in the Atlantic Ocean.
Two days after Erin Merdy, 30, was discovered wandering around soaking wet and without shoes, about two miles (three kilometers) from where kids were found playing by the water's edge off of Brooklyn's Coney Island boardwalk, authorities announced the charges.
Zachary Merdy, age 7, Liliana Merdy, age 4, and Oliver Bondarev, age 3, all drowned, according to the city medical examiner's findings on Tuesday.
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| Image Credit: NY Breaking |
According to police, Merdy underwent a psychiatric evaluation and remained in the hospital on Wednesday. When she might be arraigned in court was unclear.
In media interviews, relatives have claimed that Merdy seemed to be having trouble with the kids.
Derrick Merdy, her estranged ex-husband, told The New York Times that his son Zachary would show up for visits filthy and whining about not getting enough to eat. According to court documents, Merdy had received eviction threats because she was thousands of dollars behind on her rent.
However, friends and family members also mentioned how much she adored the kids.
According to an uncle, Eddy Stephen, "She did a little crazy stuff, but nothing that would lead to her harming her children or herself."
Dine Stephen, her aunt, told the Daily News that "she loved her children to no end."
When a representative for Merdy would be chosen was not yet known. To determine whether Merdy is mentally competent to stand trial, a defense attorney might ask the judge to order a psychological examination.
After a search that started when a relative called 911 around 1 a.m. on Monday to report fears that Merdy had hurt her kids, the bodies of the kids were discovered. When Merdy was found by himself on the boardwalk, the officers' search for him on the beach and the boardwalk was intensified.