NEW YORK — The head football coach of the oldest child suspected to have been drowned by his mother on Coney Island Beach recalled picking the hungry boy up for practices — and a disinterested mother who rarely attended games.
“We used to pick him up and walk him over to practice,” said head coach Allen McFarland. “We used to bring him over and feed him at practice.”
Dozens of balloons were strung from a fence at Kaiser Park alongside silver balloons arranged in a number 15 — the number Zachary Merdy, 7, wore as he played for the Coney Island Training Youth football team.
