Erin Murdy, 30, of Coney Island owed more than $10,000 in rent on her Neptune Avenue apartment, where she lived with her children, and had been threatened with eviction since January after the state’s moratorium on COVID-19 eviction, according to court records. projection.
The mom, who reportedly told relatives she drowned her children — 3-month-old Oliver, 4-year-old Liliana and 7-year-old Zachary — at a nearby beach early Monday, had stopped paying $1,531 a month in rent. in July 2021 and was served with an eviction notice days before the moratorium expired in January, records show.
Relatives contacted by The Post on Monday said Merdy had seemed unstable in recent years and had trouble maintaining stable relationships.
“There was a time when Erin and I were in touch all the time, but in 2015, 2016, she disappeared from the Earth. I didn’t know how to get in touch with her,” Merdy’s uncle, Levy Stephen, told the Post.
“Now I blame myself for it. He obviously needed help, and you can’t help but think, “Maybe I could have…”
Erin Merdy was struggling with her mental health and facing a custody battle. Paul MartinkaThe mother of three has been renting since last year. Paul Martinka
“I am at a loss for words. It’s not every day you lose three family members in one day,” he said. “Nobody wants to go to the funeral and see those three bodies.”
Another uncle, Jean Stephen, 64, said Merdy didn’t seem to “have her life together.
“I don’t think she could handle a relationship or anything like that. He didn’t seem to be that kind of person. It didn’t look like she was stable,” the relative said.
“Anyone can go out and fool around, but a person who is stable can settle down with a person. She didn’t have her life together enough to do that.”
Around 1 a.m. Monday, concerned relatives called police to report that Merdy may have been drunk and doing something to harm her children. Hours later, the mom was found by police walking barefoot in the sand on Coney Island Beach wearing a bathrobe and appearing dazed.
The police discover one of the three children allegedly injured by their mother. Robert Mecea An EMS supervisor provides medical care to one of the children. Merdy’s family members admit they were aware of her endless struggles. Robert MeceaMerdy allegedly drowned her three children – Oliver, Liliana and Zachary (pictured).Instagram/city-silverbacks
Law enforcement sources said that before cops found her, she told relatives that she “suffocated all three children.” The children were later found unresponsive along the shoreline just three blocks from their home on Poseidon Avenue and pronounced dead at Coney Island Hospital shortly thereafter.
Merdy’s aunt Dine Stephen said she knew her niece was struggling – but she didn’t know how badly.
“I knew she was struggling in the sense that she was trying to find her way in life. We have a history of mental illness in varying degrees in this family. Few of us have struggled with bipolar disorder, but I didn’t know her mental struggles,” the aunt said.
“I just knew she was trying to find a way for her kids, a way to get back on her feet. … It was the mental issues that dominated.”
Another uncle, Eddie Stephen, said he was ‘speechless’ when he heard from relatives that ‘Erin killed her three children.
“She did a little crazy stuff, but nothing that could hurt her kids or herself,” Eddie said.
“She liked to party here and there, drink a little, but I didn’t see drugs or that she was really irresponsible. It’s just tragic. I do not know. She never gave us any sign that she would harm her children. She loved her children.”
Relatives alerted police that Merdy may have harmed her children. Paul Martinka
Merdy’s uncle, Levy, said his niece was in the middle of a custody battle with 7-year-old Zachary’s father before Monday’s horror.
“She had issues with the way she was raising the child, from what I understand,” Levy said.
“She went off the grid after that, changed her numbers. She wasn’t on social media — at least not where I could find her.”
Police are investigating the tragic crime scene. Robert Metsea
Law enforcement sources noted that Merdy failed to bring her son to a custody exchange in July before a scheduled six-week visitation with the child’s father.
In May, Merdy pulled Zachary from his youth football team without explanation, according to his coach.
“He never gave a clear answer as to why he stopped playing,” CITY Silverbacks soccer coach Allen McFarland told The Post. “She looked like she was juggling a lot.”
During the 2021 football season, coaches in the youth sports mentoring program regularly took Zachary to practice, fed him dinner after games and dropped him off at home, McFarland, 34, said.
They tried to convince Merdy to bring back Zachary, who McFarland said loved football, to no avail.
“We felt it would be positive for him to get him out of the house and involved,” the coach said. “We train four times a week for three hours a day. That would be a good relief for the household.”
The exact cause of death of the children has not yet been determined.
McFarland choked back tears as he imagined the horror Zachary must have endured at the end of his life.
“The person you should trust the most in the world is your mom,” she said. “A 7-year-old would be excited to go to the beach. I can only imagine what that kid was thinking at that moment.”
The coach broke the tragic news to the boy’s former teammates at practice Monday night. The young football players released balloons wearing Zachary’s number 15 jersey into the sky above Coney Island and chanted “Zachary, we love you” as a final farewell.
No charges have been filed against Merdy, who was taken to NYU Langone Hospital late Monday morning for a psychiatric evaluation.
“How does he come back from this? Even if you get your mind back, how do you get over the fact that you killed your children?’ Levi said.
“This is a shadow she will have for the rest of her life. That’s what worries me. I don’t think there is a support group for people who commit such a heinous crime. Are there people who are functional who have done this?’
