The father of four children who were poisoned and killed by their mother and grandmother in an upstate New York murder-suicide expressed his deep anguish and disbelief, stating it was "sickening" to comprehend the "unimaginable" suffering his children endured.
Brady Harmon shared his pain following the release of official toxicology findings that revealed his children—Harper, 13, Hudson, 11, and 10-year-old twins Gavin and Gracelynn Harmon—were killed using a combination of diphenhydramine, commonly found in allergy medications like Benadryl, and Mitragynine, a key component of kratom. Kratom is a psychoactive substance often sold over-the-counter.
"I will never understand how two people who claimed to love and care about these children could deliberately cause them such unimaginable harm," Harmon stated, referring to his ex-wife, Sarah Myers, 44, and her mother, Amy Steadman, 64. Police confirmed that Myers and Steadman killed the children before taking their own lives.
Three months after the tragedy in Mechanicville, New York, on June 10, Harmon posted on Facebook that the pain remained as intense as if the events had just occurred. "Reading today’s official toxicology findings makes it even more sickening to understand what was done to them," he wrote.
The Mechanicville Police Department reported that diphenhydramine was found at fatal or lethal levels in all six individuals found at the scene. Mitragynine was detected in four of them.
"Harper, Hudson, Gavin, and Gracelynn were innocent. They deserved to feel safe. They deserved to grow up, chase their dreams, celebrate birthdays, reach milestones, and live the lives that were stolen from them," Harmon added. He now resides in Utah and continues to advocate for his children, vowing to keep their memory alive.
Harmon has initiated a lawsuit against New York authorities, seeking over $400 million. He alleges that his children's deaths resulted from a prolonged pattern of abuse that went unaddressed despite numerous warning signs. The legal notice of his intent to sue names the City of Mechanicville, the Ballston Spa Central School District, the Mechanicville City School District, Saratoga County, and the Mechanicville Housing Authority.
The lawsuit filing suggests that Myers and Steadman suffered from Munchausen syndrome by proxy, a mental health condition where a caregiver deliberately harms or sickens a child or fabricates an illness for them. The filing further claims that Myers and Steadman were "regularly drugging" the children with substances including Benadryl and kratom to control them and induce illness, the same substances that ultimately caused their deaths.