Erin Merdy, 34, received a 20-years-to-life sentence for drowning her three children at Coney Island in September 2022. The Brooklyn woman pleaded guilty to three counts of first-degree murder in March, admitting she took her children to the beach near West 35th Street before drowning them in the Atlantic Ocean.

The killings occurred during an intense custody battle with her ex-husband, Derrick Merdy. Prosecutors revealed that Merdy walked barefoot along the shore in a wet bathrobe before calling family members to confess around 1:30 a.m. The children's bodies were discovered unconscious on the shoreline by 4:30 a.m. and pronounced dead at Coney Island Hospital.

Warning signs preceded the tragedy. The children sometimes stayed with Merdy in homeless shelters, and Zachary, 7, had told his father that his mother "makes me starve." Derrick Merdy reported abuse to child protective services, but no action was taken. Text messages showed Merdy had previously considered granting custody to her ex-husband.

Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez called the children "innocent" victims whose lives were taken in an "unthinkable way." The sentence ensures Merdy will be held accountable for the brutal murders that shocked the Coney Island community.