Erin Merdy, 30, faces three counts of first-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of 3-month-old Oliver Bondarev, 4-year-old Lilana Merdy and 7-year-old Zachary Merdy, police said. It was not immediately clear if Merdy has an attorney. The announcement came a day after the New York City medical examiner’s office ruled the cause of death was intentional drowning. Police responded to a 911 call shortly before 2 a.m. Monday from a family member concerned for the children’s safety. Authorities found Merdy barefoot, wet and inactive, along with family members, on the Coney Island boardwalk, before later finding the children “unconscious and unresponsive” two miles from shore, police told the Washington Post. The children were later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. Family members reached by The Post said they were still reeling from the shock of the news. “No one expected this. No one saw this coming,” said Diane Steven, 51, who said she was her mother’s aunt. Eddie Stevens told The Post the incident was a “tragedy.” “We are grieving – three young children,” said Stephen, who said he was his mother’s uncle. “We are praying for our niece.” The family member who called 911 told authorities he was concerned for the children’s safety, NYPD Chief Kenneth Corey said during a news conference Monday. “I believe she had called them and made statements about it,” he said of the mother, adding that the family had no prior reports or known history of abuse or neglect. After the call, police were dispatched to the Brooklyn apartment where the mother and children lived. The father of one of the children was at the apartment building and told police he had “similar concerns” for the children’s safety and “said he thought the woman and the children were on the boardwalk here at Coney Island,” Corey said. . For the next 90 minutes, officers searched the streets and beaches for the woman and three children. Then another 911 call came in at 3:13 a.m., which directed police to Brighton Beach, two miles away, where the mother was found with several relatives, Corey said. Police said the search was then intensified, with authorities deploying sea, land and air crews. At 4:42 a.m., Corey said, the children were found unconscious about two miles from the mother’s location — less than a mile from their Brooklyn home. Police lights flashed and sirens blared as officers desperately tried to revive the children, a video published by the New York Post shows. “Officers immediately began lifesaving measures, including CPR, on the children and they were rushed to Coney Island Hospital, where they were sadly pronounced dead,” Corey said. The brothers’ deaths have resonated deeply in their community. Alfred Brown, who was Zachary’s football coach at the school, described the boy as “full of life. Just full of energy, you know you’re going to have to say ‘enough, enough,’” Brown told the New York Post. Fellow coach Allen McFarland said Zachary loved playing football. Hours after his death, the team held a final farewell for the 7-year player, according to the New York Post. Late Monday, balloons bearing his jersey number, 15, flew over Coney Island as his teammates chanted, “Zachary, we love you,” the newspaper reported.
