New toxicology findings are now shedding more light on what allegedly happened inside the apartment.
Sources told Albany’s WNYT NewsChannel 13 that diphenhydramine, the active ingredient in Benadryl, as well as kratom, a psychoactive substance known for opioid-like effects, was detected in the children’s blood.
The toxicology findings were first reported nationally by the New York Post, adding another disturbing layer to an investigation that has already shocked the local community.
According to investigators, Myers and Steadman allegedly communicated through text messages as they prepared for and carried out the killings. Police believe the messages show the pair discussing medications, poisoning the children and efforts to hide what they had done.
Even more disturbing, investigators reportedly found messages suggesting that the plan did not unfold as expected.
One message allegedly indicated that the drugs were not producing the intended result. Investigators also believe that at least one of the children became aware that something was seriously wrong.
That child was reportedly Gavin.
Police allege that the 10-year-old was repeatedly stabbed after the poisoning attempt failed. Investigators said Gavin suffered defensive wounds, evidence they believe indicates the boy tried to protect himself during the attack.
The discovery has intensified questions surrounding the final moments of the children’s lives and the extent to which the adults allegedly planned the violence beforehand.
Investigators also reportedly found troubling searches on Steadman’s phone. According to ABC News, those searches included information concerning fatal stabbing locations and the carotid artery.
Mechanicville Police Chief Bill Rabbitt said the evidence investigators have uncovered points to an intentional attack rather than an act carried out to protect the children, despite what Myers and Steadman allegedly claimed.
“Amy Steadman and Sarah Myers consistently portrayed these murders as a way to protect the children,” Rabbitt said. “Whatever they believed to justify their actions, the murder of four children cannot be described as protection.”
The case also appears to have been deeply connected to a bitter custody dispute involving the children’s father, Brady Harmon.
Authorities reportedly recovered handwritten notes from the mother and grandmother accusing Harmon of abusing the children. The notes allegedly portrayed the killings as an attempt to “protect” the children from their father.
But investigators have said they have not been able to substantiate the abuse allegations. Harmon has strongly denied ever abusing his children.
The timing of the killings has become one of the most troubling aspects of the investigation.
The four children were only weeks away from spending the summer with their father in Utah under an existing court-ordered custody arrangement. Harmon reportedly had not seen his children in person for more than six years.
That was expected to change on July 1.
Under the custody arrangement, Harmon was scheduled to have the children from July 1 through September 1. The agreement reportedly gave Myers custody during the school year while granting Harmon uninterrupted summer parenting time, along with rights to video calls, holidays and birthdays.
For a father who had spent years separated from his children, the upcoming summer was apparently supposed to mark a major change.
Instead, investigators believe the children were killed just weeks before they were scheduled to leave New York.
The legal dispute was also becoming increasingly contentious.
According to court records reviewed by CBS6 Albany, Myers was scheduled to appear before a Utah court on June 29. She was facing allegations that she had violated the custody agreement by interfering with Harmon’s communications with the children and withholding information.
That hearing was scheduled just days after the children’s bodies were ultimately discovered.
Investigators are now piecing together the timeline, communications and evidence surrounding the deaths as they seek to determine precisely how the alleged murder-suicide unfolded.
The toxicology findings, the reported text messages, the searches found on Steadman’s phone and the alleged stabbing of Gavin have all become critical pieces of the investigation.
What makes the case especially chilling is the alleged justification behind the killings. Investigators say Myers and Steadman presented their actions as an effort to save the children from their father.
Police say the evidence tells a profoundly different story.
Four children are dead, a family custody battle ended in unimaginable tragedy, and authorities are left examining whether the dispute over where the children would live ultimately played a central role in a crime that investigators describe as deliberate and premeditated.
For the Harmon family, the approaching summer that was supposed to reunite a father with his children instead became the backdrop to one of the most devastating cases in the community’s recent history.
