Four children found dead. Now, toxicology report reveals what mom and grandmother allegedly drugged them with in murder-suicide.

Paul Sacca 

'There’s a special place in hell for people like that.'

Anew toxicology report has revealed chilling new details about the deaths of four children whose mother and grandmother allegedly plotted together to kill them before taking their own lives in a murder-suicide in upstate NewYork.

As Blaze News previously reported, police found six bodies in a Mechanicville apartment during a welfare check on June 23.

'It's not working, we need another option.'

Police identified the alleged victims as 13-year-old Harper Harmon, 11-year-old Hudson Harmon, and 10-year-old twins Gavin and Gracelynn Harmon. The children's bodies were discovered alongside the bodies of their 44-year-old mother, Sarah Myers, and their 64-year-old grandmother, Amy Steadman.

Mechanicville Police said the children were murdered on June 10, according to WNYT-TV.

The Albany Times Union reported last month that Mechanicville Police Chief Bill Rabbitt said the four children were victims of a "mass killing."

Rabbitt said Steadman and Myers began their plan as early as June 5, when Steadman began visiting multiple pharmacies to purchase over-the-counter sleep aids and medication prescribed to her, the Times Union said.

According to investigators, Steadman's online search history contained inquiries about the effects of insulin used on individuals without diabetes.

The Times Union reported that Steadman and Myers exchanged messages discussing that they "wanted to dose the children between 10:30 a.m. and noon on June 10, before a scheduled 6 p.m. phone call with their father, Utah resident Brady Harmon."

Harmon told the Times Union that he received a message on June 10 that the children had stomach aches and that the kids would call him the next day.

Harmon said subsequent attempts to reach them by phone and text went unanswered.

Rabbitt said three of the children were poisoned, while 10-year-old Gavin was stabbed with a knife "as he evidently tried to protect himself," according to the Times Union.

The chief added that Steadman conducted online searches asking, "Where's the most fatal place to be stabbed?" and "Find the carotid artery."

According to Rabbitt, messages between the grandmother and her daughter revealed that the children were not responding to the medication as expected.

One message read: "It's not working, we need another option."

Gracelynn, 10, reportedly wrote a message on her iPad about her stomach hurting: "Why would you do that? You won’t let me puke."

Rabbitt said Steadman wrote a final chilling message: "Gracie is aware."

Citing sources, WNYT-TV reported Monday that diphenhydramine, the ingredient in Benadryl, was detected in the children’s bodies. Kratom also was found.

According to the Food and Drug Administration:

FDA has warned consumers not to use kratom because of the risk of serious adverse events, including liver toxicity, seizures, and substance use disorder (SUD). In rare cases, deaths have been associated with kratom use, as confirmed by a medical examiner or toxicology reports. However, in these cases, kratom was usually used in combination with other drugs, and the contribution of kratom in the deaths is unclear.

Police said multiple letters were found at the crime scene, including one reportedly written by Steadman, who purportedly took responsibility for killing the children; she claimed it was the only way to prevent alleged abuse by their father.

Another handwritten letter believed to have been written by Myers accused Harmon of abusing the children when they lived in Utah, and she was angry with the Utah Family Court system, according to police.

The Times Union reported that Harmon denied accusations that he abused his children and hadn't seen them since November 2019.

"Never touched my kids. And this is coming from someone who has been abused. Unless you're in that room and living a day-to-day, you know, life with her, you know nothing," Harmon said, according to WKRG-TV.

Harmon claimed Myers assaulted him on the last day he saw his children: "I put my hand up, and then she opened the door and stabbed me in the face with a medicine dropper."

Harmon added to the Times Union that he received 10 letters from Saratoga County Child Protective Services informing him of several investigations into inadequate guardianship and educational neglect and that Myers had postponed his court-ordered time with them last summer until she said they had to return to school.

Harmon added, "I was called a sperm donor, nothing more than an ATM, deadbeat father."

Harmon stated, "They stabbed my son; they poisoned my children. All in the delusional state of, 'We're doing this for your benefit.'"

Harmon said Myers was "sick enough to believe her own lies."

"My kids suffered," Harmon told WKRG. "To poison them and also to stab them — there’s a special place in hell for people like that."

Harmon said, "You don’t do that to someone you love."

Rabbitt stated, "The deliberate murder of four children cannot be described as protection."

"As a community, we cannot change what happened, but together we can honor these children by caring for one another, supporting those in need and doing everything within our power, and to prevent another family from experiencing tragedy like this," the chief added.

Harmon said a court order allowed him to have the children from July 1 until Sept. 1.

However, the cremated remains of the children were flown July 2 to Utah, where the father scattered their ashes on a mountaintop.

WRGB-TV obtained court records showing Myers and Brady Harmon were married in December 2015 in Salt Lake City, separated in 2019, and divorced in 2020.

Court documents said both parents were awarded joint custody of their children.

WRGB reported, "Additional paperwork showed Myers was ordered to appear in Utah court on June 29 over a motion to enforce the divorce/custody terms." 

Paul Sacca, Blaze Media, september 11, 2026