Custody battle in the USA ends up with 4 kids murdered, two adults suicided

 

Custody battles rarely end up doing anything good for the children. 

Chilling twist after mom, grandma and four grandkids found dead in upstate NY

By

Georgia Worrell

Published July 31, 2026, 2:13 p.m. ET

The four children found dead alongside their mom and grandma in an upstate New York apartment were murdered – while their adult relatives died by suicide, authorities revealed this week.

Amy Steadman, 64, and her 44-year-old daughter, Sarah Myers, killed themselves in the Mechanicville apartment where Myers’ four children – Harper Harmon, 13; Hudson Harmon, 11, and 10-year-old twins Gavin and Gracelynn Harmon – were also discovered dead on June 23, Police Chief William Rabbitt told the Times-Union.

The kids’ deaths have been ruled homicides, the chief told the outlet. 

6

The four children’s deaths have been ruled homicides, while mom Sarah Myers (pictured, top) and grandma Amy Steadman died by suicide, Mechanicville Police Chief William Rabbitt revealed this week.

Facebook / Sarah Myers

One of the children was fatally stabbed, while the rest appear to have been poisoned, according to Rabbitt.

Police have not disclosed Steadman and Myers’ manner of suicide, nor what led up to the kids’ murders.  

Last month, Rabbitt told reporters that prescriptions and over-the-counter medications were found inside the apartment, “indicating intentional poisoning.”

Shocking new detail revealed in timeline of Michigan murder-suicide that left family of 8 dead

At the time, a handwritten note found at the scene “strongly suggested” that Steadman was “involved” in the children’s deaths, Rabbitt said. 

Recently, however, the chief hinted that the grandma may not have acted alone. 

“We have not ruled out that Sarah Myers was also complicit in the deaths of her children,” Rabbitt told NBC5 last week, adding that cops were still awaiting toxicology results. 

6

A handwritten note found inside the grandma’s apartment “strongly suggested” that Amy Steadman was “involved” in the children’s deaths, Rabbitt previously said.

Facebook / Amy Steadman

6

Police have not disclosed Steadman (pictured) and Myers’ manner of suicide, nor what led up to the kids’ murders.  

Facebook / Amy Steadman

The six family members were found dead last month after a neighbor requested a welfare check.

The bodies were too badly decomposed for responding officers to immediately identify them, Rabbitt said at the time. 

Rabbitt and the Mechanicville Police Department didn’t respond to messages from The Post Friday.

6

Brady Harmon, seen with his children, had not seen his children in person since November 2019, but they were supposed to be in the Beehive State between July and September.

Facebook/Brady Harmon

Myers had reportedly been embroiled in a bitter custody battle with her ex-husband and the children’s father, Brady Harmon, who lives in Utah. 

He had not seen his children in person since November 2019, the Times-Union reported, but they were supposed to be in the Beehive State between July and September.

He previously told The Post that the last time he spoke with the children was for 15 minutes on June 7.

6

The six family members were found dead last month after a neighbor requested a welfare check.

Albany Times Union via Getty Images

6

Residents walk under police tape at the scene of multiple deaths on Wednesday, June 24, 2026, at the Mechanicville Housing Authority in Mechanicville, N.Y.

Cindy Schultz for NY Post

“They seemed like happy little kids,” he said.

A funeral for the four children has since been held in Utah, the Times-Union reported. 

“We could not bring their bodies home due to the horrific state they were in,” Harmon told the outlet. “Their ashes were spread where my father’s ashes were laid to rest, on top of a mountain here in Utah.”

Dad kidnaps 2 y/o daughter in Amsterdam, takes her to India 8 years ago. Mom still trying to get her back.

 

Did it even once occur to the dad to do what was the best thing for the child? Or, was his motive completely selfish?

Separating a child from its Mother is child abuse. The Indian government should not support him in his abuse.

Eight years since Amsterdam girl was kidnapped

by her father; mother again asks for help

Sunday, 29 September 2024 - 11:51

NL Times

A new appeal was launched this weekend to again raise awareness about Insiya Hemani, who was violently abducted from her grandmother's home in Amsterdam-Oost exactly eight years ago. At the age of two, the girl was kidnapped in a scheme allegedly orchestrated by her father, Shehzad Hemani, after her mother, Nadia Rashid, had been granted custody rights when the couple split.

Since the kidnapping on September 29, 2016, Insiya Hemani is believed to have been kept full time in India where her father resides. In the Netherlands, Rashid continues to fight for Insiya's return.

In a video published on social media, the mother again pleaded for help from the Dutch public by signing a letter addressed to Prime Minister Dick Schoof, and his ministers of foreign affairs, and justice and security. “I'm not asking for the impossible. But I do ask for all that is possible,” she said.

The woman also addressed her missing daughter in the video, saying, “I hope you’re watching this. And I hope you feel every day how much you’re missed. Come home soon, sweetheart. Mommy is here for you.”

Insiya Hemani abduction and court convictions

Rashid has alleged that Hemani somewhat panicked when Rashid revealed the unplanned pregnancy to him, and that after Insiya was born, he did not participate in parenting her. Rashid filed for divorce in 2015, prompting Hemani to respond with vague threats of violence and a pledge to fight her for custody.

Despite reporting this to police, she said law enforcement never intervened. The harassment continued all the way up to the moment that a group of people allegedly hired by Hemani absconded with the little in the violent kidnapping in 2016.

Insiya’s abduction remains one of the most notorious kidnappings in recent Dutch history. The child was taken from her maternal grandmother’s home in the Watergraafsmeer neighborhood shortly after Rashid dropped the girl off with family members who agreed to babysit that morning.

“The father assembled a group of seven people specifically for this purpose,” the Amsterdam Court of Appeal stated in May in its verdict in the appeal in trial. Hemani was among several first convicted in the kidnapping by the District Court of Amsterdam. Hemani was not present at either hearing, though he was represented by attorneys. Hemani was ordered to serve eight and a half years in prison. His convicted accomplices received sentences of up to four years.

The court found that Insiya was forcibly taken by abductors, and handed over to Hemani, who drove her to Germany with co-conspirators Daniel C. and Erik S. They eventually transported her to India, where "she remains to this day," the court ruled.

Since then, Rashid has been prevented from having contact with the girl. She previously indicated that she has not been able to meet in person with Insiya since the abduction, and has only been able to have brief video calls with the girl which faced repeated interruptions.

“I want to see her play with other children, to know what foods she likes, and to laugh with her,” said Rashid. “But I can’t, because all the warning signs about her impending abduction were ignored. Every time I reported stalking, I wasn’t taken seriously. And now there’s only one real victim: Insiya.”

Rashid raises Insiya Hemani issue with politicians, Dutch royal family

The situation involving Insiya Hemani was also discussed during a state visit when then-President of India Ram Nath Kovind visited the Netherlands in April 2023. “The Dutch authorities have formally requested Insiya's return through diplomatic channels. Since India is not a signatory to The Hague Child Abduction Convention, it cannot be compelled to comply with its terms," said the foreign affairs minister at the time, Wopke Hoekstra.

"Additionally, India has not granted the extradition request for the father,” Hoekstra stated in response to questions from the Tweede Kamer in 2022. Additionally, Insiya’s mother spoke at length with Foreign Affairs Minister Bert Koenders while he was part of Prime Minister Mark Rutte's second Cabinet. An international arrest warrant was issued for Shehzad Hemani.

In her battle to bring Insiya back to the Netherlands, Nadia Rashid has also received support from the Dutch royal family. In April 2022, she met with King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima, which she described as meaningful. “The support I get, especially from the royal couple, gives me the strength to keep going,” Rashid shared on Goedemorgen Nederland last year.

This Week's Global Pervs and Paedos List > American pervert jailed for 50 years in Kenya; 2 Women get justice after 36 years; UK Courts, Councils revictimizing victims and kids

..

Paraplegic US pedophile, 59, jailed for 50 years in Kenya

after pleading guilty to child porn distribution

By AFP REPORTER

PUBLISHED: 12:59 EDT, 2 December 2014

An American man accused of sexually abusing Kenyan children and circulating the images on the internet will now die behind bars after being sentenced to 50 years in jail. 

Terry Ray Krieger, 59, was arrested in October after Interpol tipped off Kenyan police about an internet user in the country who went by the alias 'Babytoddler123' and was making and distributing pedophile material for overseas users.

His arrest came after Interpol investigations in Germany and the United States.

Krieger, from the state of Michigan, had initially denied the charges but then changed his plea to guilty last month.

Charged: The prosecutor reads out the charges to Terry Krieger in Nairobi court

His victims are aged between three and 10 and are from the area where Krieger lives in Olepolos in Ngong, Kajiado County, according to Daily Nation.

'Children occupy a special place in society and their rights must be protected,' Nairobi Magistrate Joseph Karanja told the court.

'The accused has robbed young children of their innocence and it is disturbing that these despicable acts have been going on undetected,' he said, dismissing the wheelchair-bound Krieger's contention that he was a paraplegic and should be shown some leniency.

Krieger allegedly exchanged 36 files between December 7, 2013 and May 18, 2014.

He would use online media platforms GigaTribe, Yahoo Chat and Skype to send the images. 

Krieger was also identified as a repeat offender, having been convicted in 1992 in the United States for criminal sexual conduct with an under 13, for which he served three years in prison.

He was released in 1995. 

The minimum sentence under Kenyan law is six years, but the judge ruled Krieger should face a maximum possible term of 50 years - meaning he will likely die behind bars.

Good judge!

36 years to justice

After a number of violent sexual assaults in Toronto in 1986, ​Raymond Burke escaped to the United States. Now, his victims finally see the potential for closure.

By Adam Carter

Mar. 23, 2022

WARNING: This article contains graphic content and may affect those who have experienced​ ​​​sexual violence or know someone affected by it.

Nicole Murdock dropped to her knees and vomited when she heard the crack of a gunshot echo in the empty field behind her.

It was a September night in southern Ontario in 1986, and after being abducted, threatened and repeatedly raped by a man named Raymond Burke, staring down the barrel of a gun sent her over the edge.

It was at that moment that she told Burke if he was going to kill her, he should just do it.

“I couldn’t think of any way to get out of it, [I] was just done. I couldn’t do it anymore,” she later testified in court. “I sat on the ground and said, ‘Just kill me.’”

Murdock survived that night — and now, after more than three decades and a trail of victims Burke left in both Canada and the U.S., the two women he attacked in Ontario in the 1980s are inching closer to justice.

This is a long and disturbing story about two women who were kidnapped, raped multiple times, had their lives threatened, and were brutally assaulted. Toronto's police and justice system did little to bring them any kind of justice until more than 30 years later. 

Please go to CBC for the story.

'It's highly disturbing': Courts 'scandal' robbing domestic

abuse victims of their children - sometimes to their abusers

Courts, councils are being accused of helping abusers land a huge psychological blow

on the victim and their child, by separating them and severely damaging their lives.

Jason Farrell

Home editor @JasonFarrellSky

Monday 27 September 2021 11:29, UK

Victims of domestic abuse are being discriminated against in the family courts and regularly lose custody of their children, sometimes to their abusers, according to campaigners, social workers and lawyers who've spoken to Sky News.

Courts and councils are accused of helping abusers to land a huge psychological blow on the victim and their child, by separating them and severely damaging their lives.

The situation is so bad, the domestic abuse commissioner says lawyers often advise clients not to tell the court they have been victims of domestic violence in case it is used against them.

Nicole Jacobs told Sky News that solicitors tell them: "The judge doesn't like it, it complicates things."

There seems to be a range of reasons why victims of domestic abuse fall foul of the courts

Barrister and advisor to the government on domestic abuse, Usha Sood, has described the situation as "scandalous", and is among many calling for greater transparency in the family courts.

One leading campaigner on child sexual exploitation (CSE), Sammy Woodhouse, says that victims of CSE who become mothers are facing similar problems with "hundreds of women" contacting her to say: "I wish I'd never come forward because now they're going to take my kids."

Sky News looked at the case of "Sally", whose daughter was removed from her care four years ago and given to her ex-partner, who she claims she had broken up with to escape from an abusive relationship.

Campaigners say that for the abuser, child custody is often part of a malicious game to gain control of the victim, who has otherwise escaped the violent behaviour.

Sally told us when her ex-partner applied for custody, that's how she viewed it.

She said: "I knew it was a game, I knew it was about control, I knew it was just going to be another abusive tactic to cause as much chaos and pain and drama as possible. And I just thought it was absolutely absurd."

There is much more on this very disturbing story at Sky News. Once again it is the children who suffer from the madness of men.

=====================================================================================