Detectives in Brooklyn are attempting to talk to the mother of three young children who were found unconscious and later died on the beach in Coney Island early Monday morning.
The 30-year-old woman was whisked away via ambulance from the 60th Precinct stationhouse later on Sept. 12 to a medical center, likely for a psychiatric evaluation, according to sources. Police used a white sheet to shield her from photographers set up outside the 60th Precinct as she was moved into the ambulance on a gurney.
According to NYPD Chief of Department Kenneth Corey, two relatives of the young victims — all of whom were 7 years of age and under — had expressed concern to police officers from the 60th Precinct that the mother, a 30-year-old woman, may have harmed them.
Those concerns triggered a massive police search that began at 1:40 a.m. on Sept. 12 with a visit to the mother’s apartment at 3325 Neptune Ave. Upon arriving at the scene, they found the front door to the apartment unlocked, and the residence empty, according to Corey.
Police began canvassing the surrounding area, including the Coney Island Boardwalk and the beach, looking for the mother and her three children.
After about a 90-minute search, Corey said, 60th Precinct officers in Brighton Beach encountered the victims’ mother, who was soaking wet and barefoot, walking on the boardwalk with other family members.
“The search now intensified, aviation units, harbor units and additional canvasses of the shoreline,” Corey said.
Then, at about 4:42 a.m., police located the three victims — a 7-year-old boy, a four-year-old girl and a 3 1/2-month old girl — unconscious and unresponsive at the water’s edge in Coney Island, off the Riegelmann Boardwalk near West 35th Street. The location is about 2 miles from where officers encountered their mother in Brighton Beach earlier Monday morning.
“The officers immediately initiated life-saving measures, including CPR, and they were rushed to Coney Island Hospital, where regrettably, they were pronounced deceased,” Corey said.
Based on a preliminary investigation, the chief of department said, police did not know of any prior history of abuse or neglect connected with the family.
So far, Corey noted, the mother has not been communicative with detectives. She was brought to the 60th Precinct stationhouse for further questioning as police work to piece together exactly what transpired in this tragedy.
The investigation remains ongoing, and Corey encouraged anyone who may have knowledge about the case to contact Crime Stoppers at 800-577-TIPS (for Spanish, dial 888-57-PISTA).
Watch live as NYPD officials provide an update on an investigation in Brooklyn in the confines of the @nypd60pct. https://t.co/7pt7Br2gTH
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) September 12, 2022
