Overview
- Brooklyn mother Erin Merdy, who pleaded guilty in March, was sentenced to 20 years to life Wednesday after a Brooklyn judge accepted the plea.
- Prosecutors say that on Sept. 12, 2022, Merdy took her three children to the Coney Island beach shortly after midnight and video shows her walking toward the ocean with them.
- Family members called 911 when she would not disclose the children’s whereabouts and officers found the children wet and unresponsive on the shoreline hours later, with the city medical examiner ruling the deaths homicides by drowning.
- Reporting and relatives have described recent postpartum depression, eviction and custody disputes as background stressors; Merdy underwent psychiatric evaluation during the case but ultimately entered a guilty plea.
- Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez condemned the killings and said the sentence ensures accountability while the judge explained that life without parole is reserved for special circumstances.