Coney Island mom faced eviction, financial and mental health strife before drowning deaths of her three young kids
The New York Daily NewsSep 13, 2022
The
A police source told the Daily News Merdy, 30, called a cousin early Monday with word she had drowned the children before their bodies were discovered.
A football coach for her 7-year-old son, who was found dying on Coney Island Beach with his two younger siblings, said the boy had often arrived hungry for team practices before leaving the squad last year. The boy’s disinterested mom rarely attended games to watch her son play, and often left early when she did appear, said Coney Island Training Youth Program head coach
“Something that was noticeable was when we fed him the pasta it was always ‘Can I have some more, can I have another?’” McFarland recalled. “... We used to bring him over and feed him at practice.”
McFarland said he and other coaches would stop by the home of
Zachary and his siblings, 3-month-old Oliver and 4-year-old Liliana, were found unresponsive on the beach near their apartment early Monday morning, with their mother spotted soaking wet and walking aimlessly in the sand nearby, barefoot and wearing a bathrobe, authorities said.
On Tuesday morning, a police officer was posted at the door to the apartment where the mom lived alone with her three children. Family members said the mother was struggling with mental health issues prior to the discovery of her kids.
The mother’s sister called cops at
Authorities located the three children, who were all pronounced dead at
The father of one of the lost kids was inside the apartment building where the family lived when police arrived and he too expressed fears about the fate of the children before the bodies were eventually discovered.
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