Woman collapses after testifying against her grandson in Lauderhill murder trial

A Lauderhill woman collapsed in front of a stunned jury Wednesday after testifying that her own grandson wounded her while murdering his wife on New Year’s Day 2012.

Bertharee Tomlin, 80, was on the stand less than an hour Wednesday afternoon and appeared reluctant to offer testimony likely to land her grandson, Eric Montgomery, in prison for the rest of his life or place him on Florida’s death row.

Montgomery is accused of first-degree murder in the shooting deaths of his wife, Natalia Hamilton, and her daughter, Alexis.

Tomlin explained that she had been called to her grandson’s apartment by her daughter (Montgomery’s mother) and that Montgomery had been in a dispute with his wife.

While she could not remember some details of that early evening, she did remember Montgomery shooting Alexis and going after Natalia.

“The two of us got together somehow in the laundry room,” she said, describing Hamilton’s effort to get away. “I don’t know how we got on the floor, but we were on the floor.”

Montgomery ordered his grandmother to move, she said. She wouldn’t.

“He pulled one of my legs to the side,” she said. Still, Tomlin wouldn’t budge, attempting to shield Hamilton. “She was in my arms. That’s when he started to shoot.”

Tomlin fell to the floor after her testimony, prompting Broward Circuit Judge Ilona Holmes to remove the jury from the courtroom and halt proceedings for the rest of the day.

Tomlin appeared lucid while speaking to deputies as she waited for paramedics to arrive, and was conscious as she was placed on a stretcher and wheeled out of the courthouse.

Jurors also heard Wednesday from Montgomery’s daughter, Erica. Now 14, Erica was 7 at the time of the shooting. She said she saw her father shoot Alexis and struggled to understand what she was witnessing.

“I thought she was ducking,” she said, describing what she saw after her father’s first gunshot was fired.

Erica Montgomery fled the scene with her aunt, Melissa Montgomery, the defendant’s sister, who is scheduled to testify on Thursday.

The defense appears to be focused on saving Montgomery’s life rather than denying he committed a crime.

Defense lawyer Abigail Langweiler did not promise the jury they would find any reason to acquit her client.

“This case is about blind rage. It’s about malice – ill will,” she said, using legal terms associated with the definition of second-degree murder. “Mr. Montgomery snapped. He lost control… You won’t hear any evidence of premeditation. You won’t hear that Mr Montgomery thought about what he was going to do. You won’t hear that he planned it.”

But prosecutor Shari Tate said the evidence is there — Montgomery grabbed his gun and threatened to use it, she said. He fired his weapon at Alexis Hamilton after she stood up to him while he was arguing with her mother. And he chased Natalia Hamilton from one room to another, ordering his grandmother to get out of the way so he could have a clean shot at his cornered wife.

Tomlin