A mother and grandmother in Mechanicville, New York, used over-the-counter and prescription drugs to kill four children as part of a murder-suicide plot.
Mechanicville Police Chief William Rabbit said during a press conference on Tuesday, August 4, that Sarah Myers and her mother, Amy Steadman, developed a plan to kill Myers’ four children by visiting pharmacies to buy the drugs, according to NBC 5.
Not only did Myers, 44, and Steadman, 64, research the effects of different drugs, but police said they also looked up which artery they should sever in order to kill someone just days before the children, who ranged between 13 to 10 years old, were murdered.
Police said that one of the children was found fatally stabbed, while the others were poisoned.
Rabbit also said that police found evidence of over-the-counter and prescription drugs at the crime scene and two notes that appeared to be suicide notes. Steadman signed one of the notes, while the other was unsigned, according to Times Union.
Police added that Steadman and Myers died by suicide after they killed the four children.
According to Rabbit, Steadman’s letter claimed that she and Myers killed the children because they believed it was the only way to prevent them from being abused by their estranged father, Brady Harmon.
Harmon, who was in an ongoing custody battle with Myers at the time of the killings, denied he ever abused his children and said he planned to see the children for the first time since 2019 just days before they were killed.
Harmon also told the Times Union that he had received multiple letters from Child Protective Services over the years, and the agency looked into the allegations made against him that included abuse, mistreatment and educational neglect.
Meanwhile, police said that the unsigned letter appeared to be from Myers and made reference to “my babies,” according to The Sun.
Police also said that they conducted two welfare checks in the days after the kids were murdered. However, officers went to Myers’ apartment to check on the family instead of Steadman’s, which was where the killings occurred.
Two weeks after the children were killed, the family’s remains were found on June 24.
Police reported to the crime scene around 6:20 pm after a neighbor called authorities to report that they had not seen the family for several days, while she also noticed flies gathering around the windows.
“I noticed the smell of death,” neighbor Stephanie Sweeney told WTEN. “And then I noticed when I turned that the air conditioner and the windows was all full of flies and I knew immediately, so I just called, I had to.”
The decomposed remains of the children have since been cremated, and their ashes were scattered on a mountaintop.
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If you or someone you know is experiencing child abuse, call or text Child Help Hotline at 1-800-422-4453.
