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The 'beyond evil' way four young siblings were killed in a suspected murder-suicide by their mom and grandma has been revealed.
Ten-year-old Gracelynn "Gracie" Harmon, her twin brother Gavin, 10, Hudson, 11, and Harper, 13, were found dead inside the Mechanicville apartment of their grandmother, Amy Steadman, in June.
Their mother, 44-year-old Sarah Myers, and 64-year-old Steadman were also found dead.
Sources told NewsChannel 13 that kratom and diphenhydramine, the active ingredient in allergy medication Benadryl, were found in the blood of all four children after the killings in Mechanicville, New York.
Kratom is a psychoactive herbal substance that can produce opioid-like effects, per the Food and Drug Administration.
Investigators have alleged that the children’s mother, Sarah Myers, 44, and grandmother, Amy Steadman, 64, worked together to poison the kids before both women died by suicide.
Police have said that Harper, Hudson, and Gracelynn died from the alleged poisoning, while Gavin survived the first attempt and was later stabbed.
Police had previously said the 10-year-old suffered defensive wounds.
The children were killed on June 10, but their bodies were not found until June 23, when officers went to Steadman’s apartment for a welfare check.
The new findings come after investigators revealed a series of messages and internet searches they say showed the pair had planned the killings.
Police previously claimed Myers and Steadman intended to poison the children between 10:30AM and noon on June 10.
When the alleged plan did not work as quickly as expected, one of the women reportedly messaged: "It’s not working, we need another option."
Investigators said searches recovered from Steadman’s phone included questions about medication reactions and what insulin does to people without diabetes.
Later searches allegedly included: "Where’s the most fatal place to be stabbed?" and "Find the carotid artery in the neck."
Police also uncovered a heartbreaking message allegedly sent by Gracelynn as she became seriously ill.
It read: "Why would you do that? You both won’t let me puke."
Steadman later allegedly messaged Myers: "Gracie is aware."
Police believe the killings were connected to a bitter custody dispute between Myers and her ex-husband, Brady Harmon.
Harmon had been set to spend 60 days with his children in Utah after years of trying to rebuild his relationship with them.
Police recovered a handwritten note in which Steadman claimed the children were killed to "protect" them from their father.
Myers also made allegations of abuse against Harmon, which he has denied.
Police said they found no evidence supporting those allegations, and Harmon has never been charged.
The heartbroken father described the deaths of his children as a "horrendous, spiteful act" in an interview with The Sun.
"I cannot understand what would go through those sick, sadistic, twisted minds to carry out this horrendous, spiteful act on harming my children because I have access to them for 60 days," he said.
"You stab Gavin. Gracelynn is trying to communicate and say, 'I need help,' and you guys give them nothing.
"Just more pain. More fear. That’s a father’s worst fear," he added.
Harmon also shared in another interview with WNYT that he had not seen his children in person since November 2019 and was only days away from finally seeing them again before their tragic deaths.
"I wish there was something else I could have done legally," he told the station. "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 do 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," he added.
After the tragedy, Harmon laid his four children’s ashes to rest on top of a mountain in Utah during a private funeral.
