Disturbed mom of Coney Island kids found dying told family she drowned them: ‘She was struggling’
Three young children were discovered unconscious Monday on the beach near the shoreline at West 35th Street at Brooklyn's Coney Island Beach. - Theodore Parisienne/New York Daily News/TNS

NEW YORK — Three young children died after they were found alone on Coney Island Beach early Monday — and their mother is suspected of drowning them, police sources said. The kids — 7-year-old Zachary, 4-year-old Liliana and Oliver, just 3 months — were discovered unconscious on the beach near the shoreline at West 35th Street in Brooklyn. Their 30-year-old mom, Erin Merdy, called a cousin saying she drowned them, according to a police source. Another relative, Merdy’s aunt Dine Stephen, told the New York Daily News, “Last I spoke to Erin, she was struggling. However, I did not realize it was ...