The mother of three children who drowned this week at Brooklyn's Coney Island was arrested and charged with murder in their deaths, the New York City Police Department said on Wednesday.
Two small girls and a boy died after they were found unconscious early Monday morning near the water's edge on the beach, known for its boardwalk and giant Ferris wheel.
Police had earlier responded to a call to a Brooklyn apartment from a concerned family member who said that a relative might have harmed her small children: a 4-year-old girl, a 7-year-old boy and a 3-month-old girl.
Erin Merdy, 30, faces charges of three counts of second-degree murder, three counts of depraved indifference to human life, and three counts of murder with the victims under 11 years old, an NYPD spokesperson said in an email on Wednesday.
New York City detectives searching the area had found Merdy, barefoot and soaking wet. She was accompanied by other family members, but not the children, Police Chief Kenneth Corey said on Monday during a news conference on Coney Island.