A grandmother and her daughter meticulously planned the deaths of four children inside an upstate New York apartment before taking their own lives, believing the horrific scheme would keep them safe from alleged abuse, police revealed.
Sarah Myers, 44, and her mother, Amy Steadman, 64, are accused of orchestrating the June murder-suicide that left Myers' children—Harper, 13; Hudson, 11; and 10-year-old twins Gavin and Gracelynn—dead, according to authorities.
Investigators uncovered evidence pointing to a mass poisoning, though it was later revealed that 10-year-old Gavin was repeatedly stabbed to death with a knife. Mechanicville Police Chief Bill Rabbitt detailed new evidence, including text messages that allegedly show the pair’s plot began on June 5, 2026, five days before the killings.
The texts revealed discussions about "obtaining medications, where the murders would occur and how those medications would be administered," Rabbitt said. They also detailed conversations about how the children would be gathered, what they would be told, and how suspicion could be avoided.
On June 10, text messages indicated that Myers instructed Steadman on when the medications should be administered. "Sarah Myers instructed Amy Steadman that the medications should be administered between 10:30 a.m. and noon so they could be finished before a scheduled telephone call at 6 p.m. with the children’s father," Rabbitt stated.
However, the plan appeared to deviate later that morning when "the children failed to respond in the manner that Steadman and Myers had anticipated." One woman, unspecified by police, sent the other a message stating, "It's not working. We need another option."
During the days leading up to the event, Steadman visited multiple pharmacies and obtained over-the-counter sleep aids and prescribed medications, according to surveillance footage and purchase records. Rabbitt noted these purchases became "even more significant" in light of the disturbing text messages.
Internet search history recovered by authorities showed queries about "medication reactions, the effects of insulin on non-diabetics and the Utah court system." Later searches included "Where is the most fatal place to be stabbed," which yielded results detailing specific arteries and the neck.
Gavin, who was repeatedly stabbed, sustained a defensive wound indicating he attempted to protect himself during the attack, police revealed.
The final text communication between Steadman and Myers occurred shortly after 8:30 p.m. on June 10. About an hour later, surveillance footage captured Steadman leaving her apartment and returning from a gas station.
A neighbor's request for a welfare check on June 13, followed by another on June 17, led to the discovery of the six family members on June 23—13 days after they were last seen. The bodies were too decomposed for immediate identification.
This grim discovery occurred days before the children were scheduled to travel to Utah to spend the summer with their father, Brady Harmon, with whom Myers was engaged in a custody battle.
Police found a handwritten confession signed by Steadman, which stated that "killing the children was the only way to keep them safe from alleged abuse in Utah." The confession also claimed Myers had "done everything she could and that no one would help her" and acknowledged that the events did not unfold as planned.
Several unsigned handwritten notes, believed to be from Myers, referring to the children as "my babies" were also found. These notes expressed anger toward the Utah family court system, alleged abuse in Utah, and complaints about an inability to obtain legal representation.
"Amy Steadman and Sarah Myers consistently portrayed these murders as a way of protecting the children," Rabbitt said. "Whatever they believed justified their actions, the deliberate murder of four children cannot be described as protection."
Brady Harmon has denied all abuse allegations. He stated that he last saw his children in 2019. He described Myers as the "culprit" and accused her of stabbing him in the face with a medicine dropper during an argument in 2019, and of withholding his children to maintain control.
Harmon last spoke with his children on June 7. He received a text from Myers three days later stating the children were sick and that they would speak on June 11. On that same day, his attorney sent Myers paperwork related to an upcoming custody hearing.
Harmon speculated that the impending custody hearing may have been a catalyst. "I don't know if that pushed them over the edge because like, 'Oh my gosh, he actually has a lawyer that's going to do his job. And we don't know a way out of this, so let's do the next best thing. He'll never have access to these kids…' and then do what they did," he told Spectrum News.
Harmon also claimed to have received 10 letters from Saratoga County Child Protective Services investigating conditions at the children’s home. The last letter stated Myers was being investigated for Munchausen syndrome by proxy, according to The Albany Times Union. A therapist concluded Myers had been negligent but determined the children were not in immediate danger.
When Harmon went to collect his children's belongings, he found the apartment in disarray, with cat urine and feces throughout. The cat was later rescued.
The investigation is ongoing, and detectives are awaiting the children’s final toxicology results. These findings are unlikely to be released to the public to prevent potential replication of the alleged perpetrators' actions, according to Chief Rabbitt.