Father of 4 Speaks After 6 Found Dead in Mechanicville Apartment as Poisoning Suspected

Q: Amid a poisoning, why was one child singled out with a weapon in the New York family tragedy?

It is not yet known why one child was killed with a weapon while the others appear to have been poisoned. What investigators have said publicly is limited. Mechanicville police reported evidence of intentional poisoning involving prescription and over-the-counter medications, but also said one child suffered fatal sharp-force injuries. Authorities have not identified which child that was, have not explained why a different method was used, and have not released a motive. The case is being treated as a family killing, with police saying circumstantial evidence and a handwritten note found in the apartment strongly suggest the grandmother, Amy Steadman, was responsible. Even so, the official causes and manners of death remain pending toxicology results and the medical examiner’s final findings. At this stage, the most plausible explanations are investigative possibilities rather than established facts: the child may not have been incapacitated by the poisoning, may have resisted, or the attacker may have used a different method for reasons that are still unknown. But police have not confirmed any of those scenarios. So the direct answer is that no public evidence currently explains why one child was singled out with a weapon. Investigators have only confirmed that one child had sharp-force injuries and that the broader deaths appear linked to intentional poisoning.

3 articles · Updated · WNYT NewsChannel 13 · Jun 26

Brady Harmon said he was days away from reuniting with his four children when police found them dead with their mother and grandmother in a Mechanicville apartment.
Police identified the children as Harper, 13, Hudson, 11, and 10-year-old twins Gavin and Gracelyn, and said evidence points to intentional poisoning.
Harmon, speaking from Salt Lake City, said he had spent 6 years seeking custody or visitation and planned to pick the children up July 1 for the summer.
The father said he had not seen the children in person since November 2019, while investigators continue probing the six deaths and the grandmother has been eyed as a suspect.