HORROR IN NEW YORK: Mother and Grandmother Poisoned and Stabbed Four Children Then Killed Themselves Days Before Father Could Reunite With Them After a Six-Year Custody Fight

Four innocent children were deliberately drugged and murdered by their own mother and grandmother in a sickening murder-suicide plot allegedly driven by a bitter custody dispute, according to investigators.

The children, Harper Harmon, 13; Hudson Harmon, 11; and 10-year-old twins Gavin and Gracelynn Harmon, were found dead alongside their mother, Sarah Myers, 44, and grandmother, Amy Steadman, 64, inside Steadman’s apartment in Mechanicville, New York, on June 23.

Investigators believe the children were murdered on June 10, nearly two weeks before their decomposing bodies were discovered during a welfare check.

Now, toxicology results have revealed that diphenhydramine, the active ingredient in Benadryl, and kratom, a psychoactive substance with opioid-like effects, were found in the children’s blood, sources told Albany’s WNYT NewsChannel 13.

The disturbing toxicology findings were first reported nationally by the New York Post.

According to police, Myers and Steadman conspired through text messages to obtain medications, poison the children, and conceal their monstrous plot.

The messages allegedly show the two women coordinating the murders as they were taking place.

One message reportedly indicated that the drugs were not working as planned and that at least one child had realized what was happening.

Gavin was allegedly stabbed repeatedly after the poisoning attempt failed. Police said he had defensive wounds, indicating the terrified 10-year-old fought for his life.

Investigators also discovered disturbing internet searches on Steadman’s phone involving fatal stabbing locations and the carotid artery, according to ABC News.

Mechanicville Police Chief Bill Rabbitt said the evidence indicates all four children were intentionally poisoned and Gavin was also fatally stabbed.

“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 mother and grandmother reportedly left handwritten notes accusing the children’s father, Brady Harmon, of abuse and claiming the killings were necessary to “protect” the children.

Police, however, said investigators have been unable to substantiate those accusations. Harmon has categorically denied abusing his children.

The murders occurred just weeks before the children were scheduled to spend the summer with their father in Utah under a court-ordered custody agreement.

Harmon had reportedly not seen his children in person for more than six years. He was finally scheduled to have them from July 1 through September 1.

Court records reviewed by CBS6 Albany showed that Myers had school-year custody while Harmon was entitled to uninterrupted summer parenting time, video calls, holidays, and birthdays.

Myers was also scheduled to appear before a Utah court on June 29 over allegations that she had violated the custody agreement by interfering with Harmon’s communication with the children and withholding information.

Instead of complying with the court order, investigators say Myers and her mother murdered all four children and then took their own lives.