Coney Island Drowning Mother Of 3 Drowned Children Charged With First Degree Murder

  The 30-year-old mother who allegedly drowned her three children off Coney Island, New York, was arraigned Friday morning on a charge of first-degree murder, plus three counts of second-degree murder and three counts of reckless disregard for human life.  .   

  Erin Murdy, who appeared for a arraignment in Brooklyn Criminal Court from her hospital bed at Lutheran Medical Center, was remanded in custody.  He did not enter a plea and is due back in court on Tuesday.   

  Wearing a yellow hospital gown, she sat in a dressing room and leaned to one side, answering only “Yes” to questions posed early in the hearing by City Magistrate Archana Rao.  She was flanked by an NYPD officer and her attorney, who did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment.   

  “The defendant had admitted to her relatives that she had harmed her children,” Assistant District Attorney David Ingle said Friday, noting that Murdy had custody of the three.   

  Merdy was hospitalized for a psychological evaluation after police found her “wet” and questioned her Monday morning in Brighton Beach, next to Coney Island, a law enforcement official said.   

  Earlier that morning, she had been seen walking with all three of her children – a 7-year-old boy, a 4-year-old girl and a 3.5-month-old baby girl – on the famous Coney Island Boardwalk, Ingle said.   

  Relatives later called the police after Merdy allegedly told them, “The babies are gone” and “The kids are gone.”  The mother told detectives she was “dreaming about walking the children on water,” a law enforcement official told CNN.   

  Ground, air and port units searched for the children.  Around 4:42 am  on Monday, officers found them unconscious on the shoreline on West 35th Street.   

  The children were wet and covered in sand, Ingle said.  All three were pronounced dead at a hospital after first responders performed life-saving measures, including CPR, NYPD Chief Kenneth Corey told reporters Monday.   

  The children died of drowning early Monday and their deaths are being ruled a homicide, the New York City Medical Examiner’s Office said.   

  New York police this week arrested Merdy on three counts of second-degree murder, three counts of reckless disregard for human life and three counts of murder involving victims under 11, a law enforcement official told CNN on Wednesday.