6 family members found dead in apparent murder-suicide amid custody battle; grandmother suspected

MECHANICVILLE, N.Y. (TCN) -- Six people, including four children, have been found dead in an apparent murder-suicide in which the grandmother is the suspect.

On June 23, authorities arrived at a residence to conduct a welfare check after neighbors were concerned they had not seen or heard from the residents in several days. 

Responding officers found six people deceased in the apartment. The Mechanicville Police Department identified them as 64-year-old Amy Steadman, 44-year-old Sarah Myers, 13-year-old Harper Harmon, 11-year-old Hudson Harmon, and 10-year-old twins Gavin and Gracelynn Harmon. Steadman was Myers’ mother and the grandmother of the children.

At a press conference on June 25, Mechanicville Chief of Police William Rabbitt announced that Steadman was suspected of intentionally poisoning the five other family members before taking her own life.  In addition, one of the children had also been stabbed. The New York Post reports syringes were found in the home and the children had been injected with drugs.

KSRO reports the mother, her children, and the grandmother all lived in the same apartment complex.

Rabbitt said evidence inside the apartment included prescription and over-the-counter medications. The family had been dead for a long time before they were found. WNYT reports that a handwritten note found at the scene led investigators to suspect Steadman, and a source told the outlet she resented that the children’s father had recently been granted joint custody of the children. 

WNYT reports Brady Harmon, the children’s father, had reportedly been trying for six years to be granted custody or visitation and had not seen them since 2019. He had been scheduled to bring them to his home in Utah for the summer on July 1 with the new joint custody agreement.

According to WPIX, Brady Harmon and Sarah Myers separated in 2019. He was reportedly supposed to FaceTime with his children on June 10, but Myers canceled the call because the children were sick. He told the outlet that after learning of the deaths, “There is no prepping for that whatsoever… let alone that you’re supposed to be there the following week to pick up your kids for your first parenting time in 6 1/2 years. … Two days after Father’s Day, I find out my kids are gone.”

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