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A New Hampshire man will be sentenced for murdering his daughter in 2019.Adam Montgomery was convicted by a jury in February in the death of 5-year-old Harmony Montgomery.Manchester police launched a missing person investigation on New Year’s Eve 2021 for Harmony, who had not been seen in two years. Within days, pictures of the little girl with blond hair, blue eyes and a bright smile were plastered on billboards and posters. Everyone was holding out hope that Harmony would be found, including her mother, Crystal Sorey, who first sounded the alarm after she said the girl’s father, Adam Montgomery, who had sole custody, cut all communication. Sorey sat down with sister station WMUR this week.”It was just a very scary, helpless time in my life,” she said.In August 2022, investigators announced the news that no one wanted to hear, that they believed Harmony had been killed in early December 2019. “They sat me down and they told me that she was deceased,” Sorey said.Two months later, Harmony’s father was arrested and charged with her murder. It would be another two years before Adam Montgomery got his day in court. The trial lasted weeks. Dozens of witnesses took the stand, including his estranged wife, Kayla Montgomery, who detailed how her husband killed his daughter.”He was just punching her repeatedly in the head,” she said. “He folded her in half and put her in a duffle bag.”For Sorey, the testimony was agonizing to hear. “It was really hard for me,” she said. “I think most of my tears were out of anger, out of anger, you know? Because there is no excuse in this world.”A jury convicted Adam Montgomery of second-degree murder and other charges. “Certainly, this is not the first murder of a child, but because of the way it was brought to the public’s attention, it got a lot of publicity and attention that maybe a similar case would not receive,” said legal analyst Patricia LaFrance, of Black, LaFrance & Bollinger.In sentencing recommendations, the state is asking for Montgomery to serve a total of 56 years to life. “The state can make their recommendations, the defense can make their recommendations,” LaFrance said. “They may agree on sentencing, but the judge ultimately has the decision.”Harmony’s remains have never been found. WMUR has learned that police were recently back at a marsh in Revere, Massachusetts, in the same area where a search happened last year.Investigators used a drone to search the area. That video will be analyzed, and it’s expected that a larger-scale search will take place in the coming months. Sorey said she would be OK with Adam Montgomery receiving a reduced sentence for information about what he did with Harmony’s remains, but she’s unsure if he would agree to it. “I know how sick he is,” she said. “I know that he’ll never give up her location, but I know that I’ll never give up. So, I’ll find her.”The question remains whether Adam Montgomery appear for his sentencing. He filed a motion asking the court to excuse him from the hearing. A judge denied that motion and ordered Montgomery to show. It’s unclear if he will comply with that order.
MANCHESTER, N.H. —
A New Hampshire man will be sentenced for murdering his daughter in 2019.
Adam Montgomery was convicted by a jury in February in the death of 5-year-old Harmony Montgomery.
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Manchester police launched a missing person investigation on New Year’s Eve 2021 for Harmony, who had not been seen in two years.
Within days, pictures of the little girl with blond hair, blue eyes and a bright smile were plastered on billboards and posters. Everyone was holding out hope that Harmony would be found, including her mother, Crystal Sorey, who first sounded the alarm after she said the girl’s father, Adam Montgomery, who had sole custody, cut all communication.
Sorey sat down with sister station WMUR this week.
“It was just a very scary, helpless time in my life,” she said.
In August 2022, investigators announced the news that no one wanted to hear, that they believed Harmony had been killed in early December 2019.
“They sat me down and they told me that she was deceased,” Sorey said.
Two months later, Harmony’s father was arrested and charged with her murder.
It would be another two years before Adam Montgomery got his day in court. The trial lasted weeks. Dozens of witnesses took the stand, including his estranged wife, Kayla Montgomery, who detailed how her husband killed his daughter.
“He was just punching her repeatedly in the head,” she said. “He folded her in half and put her in a duffle bag.”
For Sorey, the testimony was agonizing to hear.
“It was really hard for me,” she said. “I think most of my tears were out of anger, out of anger, you know? Because there is no excuse in this world.”
A jury convicted Adam Montgomery of second-degree murder and other charges.
“Certainly, this is not the first murder of a child, but because of the way it was brought to the public’s attention, it got a lot of publicity and attention that maybe a similar case would not receive,” said legal analyst Patricia LaFrance, of Black, LaFrance & Bollinger.
In sentencing recommendations, the state is asking for Montgomery to serve a total of 56 years to life.
“The state can make their recommendations, the defense can make their recommendations,” LaFrance said. “They may agree on sentencing, but the judge ultimately has the decision.”
Harmony’s remains have never been found. WMUR has learned that police were recently back at a marsh in Revere, Massachusetts, in the same area where a search happened last year.
Investigators used a drone to search the area. That video will be analyzed, and it’s expected that a larger-scale search will take place in the coming months.
Sorey said she would be OK with Adam Montgomery receiving a reduced sentence for information about what he did with Harmony’s remains, but she’s unsure if he would agree to it.
“I know how sick he is,” she said. “I know that he’ll never give up her location, but I know that I’ll never give up. So, I’ll find her.”
The question remains whether Adam Montgomery appear for his sentencing. He filed a motion asking the court to excuse him from the hearing. A judge denied that motion and ordered Montgomery to show.
It’s unclear if he will comply with that order.
(source)