Technology and Science11 September, 20262 min read
Mechanicville Police Say Toxicology Found Lethal Benadryl and Kratom in Six Deaths
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Toxicology found diphenhydramine at lethal levels in all six victims. Mitragynine (kratom) detected in four of six individuals.
5 outlets told this the same way.
Toxicology Confirms Lethal Doses
Mechanicville Police announced that a toxicology report concluded the four children and two adults who died in June in Mechanicville had fatal levels of over-the-counter allergy medicine in their systems.
Mechanicville Police Chief Bill Rabbitt said the report also found mitragynine, the primary active compound found in kratom, present in four of the six individuals.
The Daily Gazette reported that the toxicology report confirmed the presence of fatal levels of kratom and allergy medication in all six bodies, and that diphenhydramine, the active ingredient in over-the-counter Benadryl, was present in lethal levels in the Harmon children, Myers and Steadman.
The Daily Gazette said the bodies of Harper Harmon, 13; Hudson Harmon, 11; Gavin Harmon, 10; and Gracelynn Harmon, 10 were found by police in an apartment in the John S. Moore Homes apartment complex on June 23, along with the bodies of their mother, Sarah Myers, 44, and grandmother, Amy Steadman, 64.
Police Maintain Homicide
Mechanicville Police Chief Bill Rabbitt told the Daily Gazette that the findings from the toxicology report did not alter the original findings of the investigation into the deaths of the children. The Daily Gazette said the Harmon children’s cause of death is still labeled a homicide and Myers and Steadman as suicides, and that a medical examiner’s report previously confirmed the four children were murdered while Steadman and Myers committed suicide.
WNYT reported that investigators said Sarah Myers and her mother, Amy Steadman, conspired to kill the four children, and that Myers and Steadman then died by suicide. WAMC said police believe that Myers and Steadman died by suicide and that investigators made that determination based on texts between Myers and Steadman, while also noting that one of the children had multiple stab wounds.
Legislators Move on Kratom
WNYT said police are expected to release a statement on the toxicology report in the coming days, while WAMC said Mechanicville police wouldn’t release any more information regarding the toxicology report until they complete their investigation. WAMC reported that the toxicology report came up in Rensselaer County as legislators voted on a proposed ban on the sale of all kratom products in the county, and that the ban passed 15-2.
WRGB said toxicology reports confirmed that diphenhydramine, an over-the-counter antihistamine, was found at fatal or lethal levels in all six people who died in the Harris Avenue tragedy, and that mitragynine was also found in four of the six people. WRGB added that evidence suggests that all of the children were willfully poisoned, and that Gavin was also fatally stabbed, with the report stating it is believed they died on June 10, nearly two weeks before the bodies were discovered.