Heartbroken dad of four kids killed by mother and grandmother in murder-suicide seeks $400m, alleging years of ignored abuse

DAILYMAIL • 49m ago

By JAMES GORDON, US NEWS REPORTER 01:00 20 Sep 2026, updated 01:00 20 Sep 2026

The devastated father of four children poisoned to death by their mother and grandmother is seeking $400 million from New York authorities, alleging a horrifying pattern of abuse was allowed to continue for years despite repeated warning signs.

Brady Harmon has filed a legal notice signaling his intention to sue the City of Mechanicville, Saratoga County, two school districts and a housing authority, accusing agencies of failing to protect Harper, 13; Hudson, 11; and 10-year-old twins Gavin and Gracelynn Harmon.

The filing came exactly three months after authorities say Harmon’s ex-wife, Sarah Myers, 44, and her mother, Amy Steadman, 64, carried out a meticulously planned murder-suicide on June 10.

Investigators believe the women drugged the four children before Gavin was repeatedly stabbed. Myers and Steadman then took their own lives.

But Harmon’s explosive 17-page notice alleges the tragedy was preceded by years of disturbing behavior that authorities should have detected and stopped.

It accuses Myers and Steadman of suffering from Munchausen syndrome by proxy – a form of abuse in which a caregiver fabricates, exaggerates or causes illness in somebody under their care.

Harmon claims the pair were ‘regularly drugging’ the children with substances including melatonin, Benadryl and kratom ‘to control them and to make them sick.’

One of the most alarming incidents allegedly unfolded in May 2024, when all four children became ill while attending the Mechanicville City School District.

Three were taken to Albany Medical Center showing signs consistent with an opiate overdose, while Gracelynn’s condition was allegedly so serious she required Narcan.

Myers blamed Benadryl, according to the filing.

The hospital contacted Child Protective Services, but Harmon’s attorneys argue the incident should have led to the children being removed from their mother’s care or, at minimum, ‘triggered immediate criminal and abuse investigations.’

The filing claims Gavin suffered particularly severe abuse and was ‘falsely diagnosed with several mental illnesses and put on a psychotropic medication that reduced his ability to fight back.’

Harmon also alleges that as his children became chronically absent from school – supposedly because Myers was homeschooling them – agencies withheld information concerning their education, medical treatment and alleged abuse from him ‘in violation of his parental rights and the law.’

The father had not seen his children in person since 2019 amid a bitter custody battle but that was about to change with Harmon reaching an agreement for the children to spend the summer with him in Utah from July through September.

‘I sent their flight information. I planned activities based on their interests,’ he wrote to his ex-wife as he prepared for their arrival.

‘I requested their medical records, medications, allergies, doctors’ information, and other documents that were required under the parenting plan. I believed I was preparing to welcome my children home.’

He spoke to them on June 7 and was looking forward to their reunion. Then, on June 10, Myers sent him a message saying the children were sick.

‘The kids have gotten a little stomach bug throwing up is it okay to switch your online visit to tomorrow night at 4 pm your time please,’ she wrote.

Harmon replied that he hoped they would feel better.

When he tried again the following day, his video call went unanswered.

Investigators now believe the children were already dead.

Police later revealed that messages between Myers and Steadman discussed medicating the youngsters that same day.

‘Sarah Myers instructed Amy Steadman that the medications should be administered between 10.30am and noon so they could be finished before a scheduled telephone call at 6pm with the children’s father,’ Mechanicville Police Chief Bill Rabbitt said last month.

Investigators also discovered an ominous message from one woman to the other: ‘It’s not working. We need another option.’

Steadman is said to have visited several pharmacies in the days before the killings, while investigators said internet searches included queries about medication reactions, what insulin does to non-diabetics and the Utah court system.

Later searches included: ‘Where is the most fatal place to be stabbed?’

Toxicology results have since provided another piece of the investigation, with kratom and diphenhydramine, the active ingredient in Benadryl, detected in the children’s bodies.

‘Preliminarily, there is nothing in the toxicology findings that has surprised investigators or is inconsistent with the direction of our investigation,’ Rabbitt told WNYT.

The bodies remained undiscovered inside the family’s Mechanicville apartment until June 23.

Harmon alleges he repeatedly sought welfare checks during the nearly two-week period, but police did not enter the home until a neighbor called 911 after noticing a foul odor.

The family’s remains were badly decomposed by the time they were discovered.

Authorities subsequently found letters, including a handwritten confession signed by Steadman and other unsigned writings believed to have been authored by Myers, accusing Harmon of abusing Myers and the children while they lived in Utah.

Harmon vehemently denies those allegations.

His legal notice claims Myers instead used accusations against him ‘to gain sympathy, resources (including public resources), and money, and to otherwise control, manipulate, abuse and harm the children.’

He has previously described Myers as the ‘culprit’ rather than a ‘victim’ and accused her of using the children to maintain control over him.

‘My children were not pawns to be sacrificed when control was slipping away,’ Harmon wrote following their deaths.

‘They were four beautiful human beings with personalities, dreams, fears, laughter, and an entire family waiting to love them.’

His attorneys now contend numerous authorities had opportunities to intervene before the family was wiped out.

The Mechanicville Housing Authority, which oversaw the family’s apartment complex, is among those named in the notice, while Harmon’s lawyer Nicholas Liakas said the children remained in Myers’ care despite ‘multiple complaints and investigations’ involving CPS.

‘Child Protective Services failed these children,’ Liakas told the New York Post.

‘When the warning signs are there, people need to step up. We can’t wait until a tragedy occurs to say what should have been done before these children are abused.’

Liakas said the proposed lawsuit is not solely about obtaining compensation for a grieving father, but about forcing changes designed to prevent another family suffering a similar catastrophe.

‘What we’re doing is we’re seeking justice for this family, but we’re also trying to implement institutional change here,’ he said.

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