Brooklyn Woman Sentenced to 20 Years to Life for Drowning Children

A Brooklyn woman was sentenced Wednesday to 20 years to life in prison for drowning her three young children in the Atlantic Ocean near Coney Island in 2022. Erin Merdy, 34, pleaded guilty earlier this year to three counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of her children, 7-year-old Zachary Merdy, 4-year-old Liliana Stephens Merdy, and 3-month-old Oliver Bondarev.

Brooklyn Supreme Court Justice Danny Chun imposed the sentence. In a statement, Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said that while no sentence could measure the loss, it ensured accountability. He described the children's lives as having been taken in the most heartbreaking and unthinkable way. A message left with Merdy's attorney was not returned.

The killings occurred in the early hours of Sept. 12, 2022. According to prosecutors, Merdy took the children to the beach shortly before 1 a.m. and drowned them. Video evidence showed her walking toward the ocean with the children around that time.

Afterward, she walked from the beach and contacted family members, who reported she was upset and would not say where the children were. Relatives, concerned she intended to harm the children, called police. Officers...