Erin Merdy, 34, was sentenced to 20 years to life following the murders of her three children in September 2022
Credit: Theodore Parisienne/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty
NEED TO KNOW
- A Brooklyn mother has been sentenced to 20 years to life in prison following the murders of her three young children in September 2022
- Erin Merdy, 34, learned her fate in court after the deaths of Zachary Merdy, 7, Lilana Stephens Merdy, 4, and Oliver Bondarev, 3 months
- The mom drowned her children in the ocean near their home in Coney Island
A mother who drowned her three young children in the ocean near their home in Coney Island has been sentenced to 20 years to life in prison.
On Wednesday, May 20, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez announced that Erin Merdy, 34, of Coney Island, Brooklyn, had learned her fate following the murders of her three children: Zachary Merdy, 7, Lilana Stephens Merdy, 4, and Oliver Bondarev, 3 months.
A release stated, “The defendant was sentenced today by Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun to 20 years to life in prison, over the objection of prosecutors. The defendant pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder on March 4, 2026.”
The murders occurred on Sept. 12, 2022, at approximately 12:37 a.m. local time, Gonzalez said, citing the investigation. He confirmed that the defendant had taken her three children to the beach near West 35th Street in Coney Island and drowned them in the ocean.
Credit: Theodore Parisienne/New York Daily News/Tribune News Service via Getty
The release noted, “At approximately 1:25 a.m., [Merdy] began walking from the beach, alone, towards the apartment of the father of the youngest child, located in Brighton Beach, over two miles away.”
“The defendant called family members upset, and when she would not answer questions regarding the whereabouts of her children, relatives and the father went to look for her and called 911,” it added.
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The DA's Office confirmed that police had then initiated a search, before the children were located “unresponsive and wet, on the shoreline near West 35th Street” at around 4:30 a.m. that day.
Relatives said at the time that Merdy may have been suffering from postpartum depression, according to the Associated Press.
The children were pronounced dead at Coney Island Hospital. “When the defendant's family members found her in Brighton Beach wet and barefoot, she repeatedly said that the children were gone and that she was sorry, according to the investigation,” the release stated.
District Attorney Gonzalez said of the case, “Zachary, Liliana and Oliver were innocent children whose lives were taken in the most heartbreaking and unthinkable way,” Gonzalez said of the case, per the release.
“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,” he added.
Gonzalez concluded, “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.”
The Brooklyn District Attorney's Office and the New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner did not immediately respond when contacted by PEOPLE for additional information.
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