Grandmother Suspected of Poisoning Daughter and 4 Grandchildren Gets a Two-Line Obituary
A two-line obituary published last week for a 64-year-old upstate New York woman captured the grim reality of the case surrounding her death. "Amy J. Steadman, 64, passed away on Tuesday, June 23, 2026. Per the request of the family, services were held privately."
Steadman is the grandmother at the center of a Mechanicville, New York, investigation in which police say evidence strongly suggests she poisoned her daughter and four grandchildren before dying herself. The family was found dead on June 24 after a neighbor requested a welfare check, having not seen any of them for several days.
Who Was Found
Officers arrived at an apartment building on Harris Avenue in Mechanicville, a small city roughly 18 miles north of Albany, at approximately 6:20 p.m. on June 24. When they were unable to make contact with Steadman, building management provided access to the apartment. Inside, they found six people dead.
The victims were Steadman; her daughter, Sarah Myers, 44; and Myers' four children: Harper Harmon, 13; Hudson Harmon, 11; and 10-year-old twins Gavin Harmon and Gracelynn Harmon. Though Steadman owned an apartment in the building, Myers and her children lived in a separate unit. All six were found inside Steadman's apartment.
What Evidence Showed
Mechanicville Police Chief William Rabbitt said at a June 25 press conference that a handwritten note found at the apartment "strongly suggests that Amy Steadman was involved in the deaths." He declined to share the note's contents or confirm its authorship.
"When officers were unable to make contact with Ms. Steadman, building management was contacted and access to the apartment was obtained. Upon entering the residence, officers located six deceased individuals," Rabbitt said.
Investigators found "numerous prescription and over-the-counter medications" inside the apartment, and Rabbitt said evidence indicated the deaths likely involved intentional poisoning. Six autopsies conducted at Albany Medical Center also determined that one of the children had "suffered fatal, sharp force injuries." Rabbitt said the family appeared to have been dead for "an extended period of time" before they were discovered.
Toxicology testing remains ongoing. Rabbitt stressed that official determinations of responsibility would not be made until the full investigation, toxicology results and medical examiner review are complete.
The Children's Father
According to reporting by the New York Post and Times Union, the children's father, Brady Harmon, had been fighting for custody and visitation access for six years. He had not seen his children in person since November 2019. At the time of the deaths, he had recently been granted two months of custody and was preparing to welcome the children to his home in Utah within days. "I went from, 'I'm seeing my kids,' to 'I'll never see my kids again,'" Harmon told the Times Union.
Reports indicate Steadman may have been resentful of the pending custody transfer. In March 2022, she had shared a now-deleted GoFundMe campaign created by Myers to raise money for a domestic violence attorney, titled "Help get a domestic violence lawyer save my kids." Police are reviewing whether the family's history and prior domestic circumstances are connected to the deaths.
The Community
None of the children were enrolled in public school and were being homeschooled. Rabbitt said many Mechanicville residents knew the family. "Mechanicville is a close-knit city. Many residents knew the family involved, have children and grandchildren of their own, or simply cannot comprehend the loss of six lives under such heartbreaking circumstances," he said.
The investigation remains open and active.
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