January 1, Mother Questioned After 3 Children Found Unconscious on Beach

Three young children died after being found unconscious on a Brooklyn beach, and their mother is now being questioned, New York Police Department officials said.

Officers were responding to a report of an emotionally disturbed woman when they found a 3-month-old boy, a 4-year-old girl, and a 7-year-old boy on the shore of Coney Island Beach, NYPD Chief Kenneth Corey said at a news conference.

A family member called 911 in the early morning hours on Monday, worried that the 30-year-old mother may have harmed her children. Officers arrived at the woman’s apartment on Neptune Ave. shortly before 2 a.m. No one answered the door at the woman’s residence, but police met a man inside the building who identified himself as one of the children’s fathers.

Corey said the man also expressed concern about the children’s welfare and told the officers he believed the woman and children were at the Coney Island boardwalk. Police searched for 90 minutes before another 911 call reported that the woman had been found in a “disturbed state” at Brighton 6th Street and Riegelmann Boardwalk.

When officers arrived, they found the woman barefoot and “soaking wet” and other family members, but not the children. At that point, Corey said, the search “intensified.”

At approximately 4:40 a.m., police found the three children unresponsive on the Coney Island shoreline at West 35th Street, roughly two miles from where they found the mother.

Officers began administering CPR, and the children were taken to Coney Island Hospital, where they were pronounced dead.

Corey said, based on preliminary information, “there is no indication of prior history of abuse and neglect of these children.” The mother is at a police station with detectives for questioning, but “so far, she has not said anything.”

Sources: New York Times | NBC News | CNN