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yesterday

Police Say Mother and Grandmother Plotted Murder of Four Children

Recovered texts, handwritten notes and pharmacy records indicate premeditation, prompting scrutiny of prior child‑welfare contacts.

Collage of a woman and children in hooded blankets, a woman and four children with a diploma, and two people in hazmat suits.
A makeshift memorial is set up outside an apartment complex in Mechanicville after Sarah Myers, her four children and her mother, Amy Steadman, were found dead there June 23. Police Chief William Rabbitt provided an update on what is believed to be the murder of the four children and suicide by Myers and Steadman.
Photos of four children who police said were killed by their mother, Sarah Myers, and their grandmother, Amy Steadman, are on display at a vigil memorializing the children on June 27 at Tallmadge Park in Mechanicville.
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Overview

  • Mechanicville police announced on Aug. 4 that investigators believe Sarah Myers and her mother Amy Steadman conspired to kill Myers’ four children on June 10 and then died by suicide, based on documentary and electronic evidence.
  • Police say texts between Myers and Steadman detailed where and how the killings would occur and how medications would be obtained and administered, and investigators also recovered a handwritten letter signed by Steadman taking responsibility.
  • Authorities reported that three children were fatally poisoned and one child, Gavin, was repeatedly stabbed while defending himself, and the bodies were found on June 23 after neighbors reported a suspicious odor following welfare checks on June 13 and 17.
  • The children were due to reunite with their father, Brady Harmon, for parenting time in July; Harmon denies the abuse allegations named in the notes and had received multiple Saratoga County CPS letters about past investigations.
  • Investigators say they cannot independently verify the abuse claims in the writings, criminal charges are not possible because the suspected perpetrators are deceased, and the active probe is focused on timeline, motive, means and missed intervention points.