A Grandmother Is Suspected of Poisoning Her Daughter and Four Grandchildren A Father Was Days Away From Seeing His Kids Again

Neighbors hadn't seen them for several days. On June 23, someone called for a welfare check at an apartment in Mechanicville, New York. Officers arrived just before 6:30 p.m.

Inside, they found six people dead.

Sarah Myers, 44. Harper Harmon, 13. Hudson Harmon, 11. Gavin Harmon, 10. Gracelynn Harmon, 10. And Amy Steadman, 64, Sarah's mother.

All six were dead.

What Police Found

Mechanicville Police Chief William Rabbitt held a press conference on June 25 to explain what happened. He named Amy Steadman as the suspected perpetrator of what he called "intentional poisoning."

"We will say that there is recovered evidence inside the apartment to indicate intentional poisoning to include numerous persons and over-the-counter medications," Rabbitt said.

He described finding "a handwritten note and other circumstantial evidence" that "strongly suggest that Amy Steadman was involved in the deaths."

The preliminary investigation found "no evidence to suggest any outside individual" was responsible.

Who They Were

Sarah Myers was 44 years old. She lived in an apartment with her four children, Harper, Hudson, Gavin, and Gracelynn. They were 13, 11, 10, and 10.

The children weren't enrolled in public schools. Police said they had no evidence of when the family had actually died, but described it as "an extended period of time" before the welfare check.

Their grandmother, Amy Steadman, lived in a separate unit within the same apartment complex.

The Father's Fight

Brady Harmon, the children's father, lives in Salt Lake City. He hadn't seen his children in person since November 2019, nearly seven years ago.

He had been fighting for six years to get custody or visitation with them. He told WNYT News that he was "just days away" from finally seeing them when he learned they were dead.

What He Said

Brady Harmon spoke to the news station from his home. His words carried the weight of someone who had been fighting a long legal battle and was about to win it.

"I wish there was something else I could have done legally," he said.

"But I went through everything I could. Everything that my lawyers could do, everything. I just never thought that someone would go and do this. You talk about the feeling of how you prepare for this? You get down to almost the finish line — just absolutely cut your legs out from underneath you, and the only thing left to do is crawl across the finish line to bring the remains home."

That's what he said. Not anger. Not accusations. Just the recognition that he had done everything within the system to see his children again, and then at the finish line, it was taken away.

What This Actually Means

A father fought for six years to see his children. The legal system was working. He was days away.

His ex-partner's mother allegedly poisoned his children, his ex-partner, and herself.

He was days away.

The Investigation

The Mechanicville Police Department's investigation remains active. Chief Rabbitt did not disclose a possible motive. The handwritten note that was found hasn't been publicly detailed. The exact mechanism of poisoning what over-the-counter medications were used, how they were administered hasn't been fully explained.

What is clear is that Amy Steadman is suspected. That evidence was found. A note was left.

Six people are dead in Mechanicville, New York. A mother and four children. Their grandmother.

A father is left explaining what he did, what his lawyers did, and how close he was. He got to the finish line. And then the finish line disappeared.

That's what happened. Not resolved yet. Still being investigated. Still leaving a family broken in a way that shouldn't have been possible.