"He Wanted a Boy": NY Father Kills Pregnant Wife, Stabs Two Daughters
A Quiet Town Shattered
Until September 4, 2024, Masonville was just another quiet town in upstate New York—population under 1,500, where crime meant a neighbor's lost dog or a bar fight on the weekend. But that morning, a 911 call from a panicked 9-year-old girl exposed a nightmare no one in the town could have imagined.
Police arrived at the Garnier residence to find a bloodbath: 30-year-old Samantha Garnier, five months pregnant, dead in the kitchen. Her two daughters—Adelina, 9, and Izzie, 6—were clinging to life, their tiny bodies bearing multiple stab wounds. Drew Garnier, the family’s patriarch, was found sitting on the couch, the murder weapon at his feet. He showed no resistance. Just silence.
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| Drew Garnier, 33, admitted to repeatedly stabbing his five-months-pregnant wife, Samantha Garnier, 29 |
The Motive: A Deadly Fixation with Having a Son
Investigators quickly uncovered a chilling motive. Drew had just learned the third child Samantha was carrying would be another girl. According to friends and family, he had become increasingly angry and withdrawn after the gender reveal two weeks prior. He had reportedly told a coworker: “I can’t handle another girl. I need a boy to carry my name.”
Family members later confirmed that Drew had been obsessed with having a son for years—so much so that Samantha once considered not telling him the gender of the pregnancy to avoid conflict. But the truth eventually came out—and that night, it cost her life.
Court records revealed Drew believed a male child was necessary to "complete the family." Prosecutors described a man who became emotionally volatile, who saw daughters as "disappointments," and whose behavior had grown increasingly erratic.
A History of Control and Emotional Abuse
Though neighbors described the Garniers as a "normal family," those close to Samantha say she had been isolated and emotionally abused for years. One friend told investigators Samantha often avoided discussing her marriage:
“She didn’t complain—but you could see it in her eyes. She was surviving, not living.”
The abuse was subtle, psychological—until it exploded into unimaginable violence. Police later found journals written by Samantha describing Drew’s mood swings, gender fixation, and controlling behavior. One chilling entry read:
“He says if it’s another girl, maybe it’s a sign this family isn’t meant to grow anymore.”
The Attack: A Calculated Morning of Horror
The morning of the attack, Drew waited until the girls were eating breakfast before confronting Samantha. What followed was a 15-minute rampage. Samantha fought back—there were defensive wounds on her arms and hands—but Drew was larger, stronger, and enraged.
When Adelina tried to shield her mother, she was stabbed in the abdomen. Izzie was attacked next. The 9-year-old, despite her injuries, managed to crawl to a neighbor’s back porch and ring their doorbell. That call likely saved her and her sister’s lives.
The Legal Aftermath: A Family’s Fracture, A Community’s Fury
To spare the daughters from reliving the trauma in court, Drew Garnier took a plea deal in early 2025:
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30 years in prison
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15 years post-release supervision
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Lifetime no-contact order unless the girls initiate contact as adults.
The courtroom was packed for the sentencing. Samantha’s father, Gregory Vernagallo, stood with his granddaughters and read a letter addressed to Drew:
“You destroyed your family because you couldn’t handle the joy of a daughter. You thought you lost something, but we lost everything.”
The Girls: Healing Through Trauma
Now living with their grandfather, Adelina and Izzie are in therapy and undergoing rehabilitation. They bear physical scars, but the emotional wounds run deeper. Izzie wakes up screaming from nightmares. Adelina hasn’t spoken Drew’s name since that day.
A GoFundMe campaign started by a local teacher has raised over $400,000 to support the girls’ recovery and future education. The girls are now attending school in a different district under new identities to protect their privacy.
A National Reckoning: The Hidden Crisis of Gender Disappointment
This case has sparked a national conversation about gender expectations, domestic abuse, and toxic masculinity. Experts say gender disappointment isn’t rare—but rarely does it lead to violence.
Dr. Lillian March, a psychologist who studies family dynamics, explains:
“The tragedy in Masonville is an extreme case of a silent epidemic. Some parents see children not as individuals, but as projections of their own identity. When those expectations aren’t met, it can rupture already unstable family dynamics.”
Lessons Learned—and What Needs to Change
1. Take Gender Disappointment Seriously
Mental health support should be offered to expectant parents struggling with gender preference. Brushing it off can lead to internalized resentment and eventual breakdown.
2. Recognize Non-Physical Abuse
Emotional control, isolation, and verbal belittling are all warning signs. Friends, family, and professionals must treat them with the same urgency as physical violence.
3. Strengthen Child Protection Systems
Teachers and pediatricians are often the first to see the signs. More training and better reporting systems are essential.
If You Need Help
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233) or visit www.thehotline.org.
