Ex-Lier Samantha Garnier fatally stabbed by husband in upstate, state police say; two daughters also injured

A 32-year-old man has been charged with murder after an upstate stabbing that left his pregnant wife dead and their two young daughters hospitalized, New York State Police and family said.

The victim, Samantha Garnier, 29, was five months pregnant when she was fatally stabbed Wednesday night, state police said. She grew up on Long Island before moving to Masonville in the western Catskill Mountains, according to her mother, Jean Vernagallo of Centereach. Vernagallo declined to comment further.

The two girls, aged 6 and 9, are recovering at Upstate University Hospital in Syracuse.

At a news conference Friday outside Troop C headquarters in Unadilla, about 100 miles (160 kilometers) southwest of Albany, State Police Maj. Lucas Shuta, the troop’s commander, said the girls are expected to “make a full recovery” and will eventually be returned to their loved ones.

“Family members have arrived from outside the area and will take care of the girls after they are discharged from the hospital,” Shuta said.

Drew Garnier, who responded to the scene, was charged with second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder Thursday morning in Delhi County Court. He remains in the Delaware County Jail without bail, according to state police.

Prosecutors are also working to convene a grand jury before Wednesday, when a felony preliminary hearing is tentatively scheduled, Delaware County District Attorney Shawn Smith said at Friday’s news conference.

Police said officers found the stabbing victims inside a home on Houck Road in Masonville shortly before 11:30 p.m. Wednesday. They were responding to a 911 call made by Drew Garnier, who reported a domestic dispute at the location.

A 911 dispatcher told responding officers that the husband was trying to put pressure on his wife’s wounds to stop the bleeding, according to an investigative report filed by state police.

Officers Corey King and Ronald King approached the home, a double-wide trailer with a covered porch, with medical bags and their weapons drawn to treat the injured woman when they saw Drew Garnier stick his head out the front door and then duck inside, the officers said.

Officers said they heard a single gunshot “at high speed” and retreated to the end of the driveway to await backup from a Delaware County sheriff’s deputy.

Using the sheriff’s patrol car as a shield, officers approached the home again, the report said.

Before they could get to the house, the 9-year-old girl ran out of the house wearing bloodstained clothing, officers said. She told them her mother had been stabbed and that there was a man, later identified as Drew Garnier, inside the house with a gun, the officer said. As they continued to approach, the second girl, whose clothing was also bloodstained, ran away, police said.

With the children safely away from the property, officers called for Drew Garnier to come out with his hands in the air, officers said, and they were able to arrest him.

Police said he was covered in blood and had injuries to his hands. They added that they found a butter knife in his left front pocket.

Inside the home, police said they found Samantha Garnier lying on her side with multiple stab wounds, still conscious. She was flown to UHS Wilson Medical Center in Johnson City, where she later died.

Police said they found a spent shell casing and a blood-covered AR-15 rifle with a high-capacity magazine.