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New York City

New York City mother charged with murder in her three children's Coney Island drowning deaths

The New York City Medical Examiner ruled the children's drowning deaths were homicides on Tuesday

Paul Best By Paul Best Fox News
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A New York City mother of three, whose children were found drowned near a Coney Island boardwalk earlier this week, was arrested on murder charges on Wednesday, an NYPD spokesperson told Fox News Digital. 

Erin Merdy, 30, faces three counts each of second-degree murder, murder with depraved indifference, and murder of a victim younger than 11 years old. 

Her children children – 7-year-old Zachary Merdy, 4-year-old Lilana Merdy, and 3-month-old Oliver Bondarev – were found dead in the early hours of Monday morning after one of Merdy's family members called 911 to say the kids might be in danger. 

Merdy was found soaking wet about two miles from the scene of the murders and taken into custody. 

NEW YORK CITY FATHER ATTACKED IN FRONT OF 5-YEAR-OLD SON IN BROAD DAYLIGHT, VIDEO SHOWS

  • Coney Island beach, camera
    Image 1 of 3

    Police work along a stretch of beach at Coney Island which is now a crime scene after a mother is suspected of drowning her children in the ocean on September 12, 2022 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.  (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

  • Coney Island drowning deaths
    Image 2 of 3

    Police investigate the scene of three murders near Coney Island.  (Spencer Platt/Getty Images)

  • Scene at Coney Island Beach where 3 children were found unconscious, later died.
    Image 3 of 3

    A mother was charged with murder in her three children's drowning deaths.  (FOX 5 New York)

The suspect's mother told the New York Daily News that her daughter had been struggling with mental health recently and may have been "going through postpartum depression."

"I reached out to her yesterday and she said she was doing laundry and I said I wanted to speak to the kids," Jacqueline Scott, 56, told the local news outlet. "I tried to call her twice on the phone after that and there was no answer."

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The New York City Medical Examiner ruled Tuesday that all three children died of drowning by homicide. 

Paul Best is a breaking news reporter for Fox News Digital and Fox Business. Story tips and ideas can be sent to Paul.Best@fox.com and on Twitter: @KincaidBest.