Father gets 56 years to life for girl’s death
Stays silent when offered a possible shorter sentence to say where Harmony’s remains are
MANCHESTER, n.h. — Adam montgomery, a violent felon who beat his young daughter harmony to death in 2019 then hid her body for months before disposing of her remains somewhere still unknown, was sentenced Thursday to at least 56 years and up to life in prison.
Judge Amy B. messer imposed the sentence after hearing heartwrenching victim impact statements from harmony’s mother, aunt, stepmother, foster mother, and the adoptive fathers of harmony’s younger brother. messer summarized montgomery’s history of violent crime and said the crimes in this case were egregious, so the judge’s lengthy sentence aimed to protect others by keeping montgomery behind bars.
“You robbed a 5-year-old girl, your own daughter, of the life she was to lead,” messer said.
montgomery, 34, is already serving decades in prison for a 2023 conviction on unrelated firearms offenses. prosecutors in this case asked messer to add at least 56 years to that, citing “little hope” for his rehabilitation.
The court hearing included a dramatic moment Thursday when lead prosecutor Benjamin J. Agati extended an offer to montgomery, saying the state would reduce its requested sentence by 10 years and suggest certain counts be served concurrently if montgomery would tell authorities where he hid his daughter’s remains.
montgomery did not respond and instead remained sitting in si
lence. Agati took that as declining the offer.
Agati said montgomery is heartless, immoral, selfish, and unapologetic, citing his admission of guilt for falsifying physical evidence and abusing his daughter’s corpse.
his attorney, Caroline l. Smith, argued that Agati’s offer during sentencing should be considered inadmissible.
“That entire stunt should be stricken from the record,” she said.
Smith also argued that montgomery maintains his innocence on three of the charges.
“Adam montgomery did not kill his daughter,” she said, contending he discovered harmony’s death then did “inexplicable things” to prevent her body from being discovered.
montgomery was convicted of second-degree murder for recklessly causing his daughter’s death by punching her in the head repeatedly. his estranged wife, Kayla montgomery, testified in gruesome detail about how he had beaten harmony after she soiled herself while the family of five lived in a car following an eviction.
he was also convicted of falsifying physical evidence, witness tampering, second-degree assault, and abusing his daughter’s corpse by repeatedly moving and repackaging her remains for months before disposing of them to evade detection.
After skipping the trial that resulted in his conviction, montgomery was forced to attend his sentencing. his public defenders asked that he be excused, but prosecutors successfully urged the court to compel him to attend and hear how his crimes have affected harmony’s family members, who testified.
“my love for harmony outweighs my hatred for you,” her mother, Crystal Renee Sorey, said to montgomery during sentencing, as she wore a shirt depicting harmony with angel wings.
“I wish you nothing but pain and misery for the rest of your pathetic life,” she added, calling the defendant “just plain evil.”
blair miller and Johnathon bobbitt-miller, the couple who adopted harmony’s younger brother, Jamison, said that they struggled to break the news of her death to him, and that even today the now7-year-old boy still doesn’t know the harrowing details.
“You took away his best friend, his sister,” miller said to montgomery during the hearing.
before they told Jamison that harmony had died, bobbittmiller said, the boy would approach any girl at school with blond hair and glasses to ask if she were his sister. And whenever the doorbell rang, he would answer with excitement: “maybe she’s found me.”
Jamison was not present for
Thursday’s hearing, but bobbittmiller read a statement from him.
“I hope she’s eating m&ms in heaven . . . . I miss you, and I will always love you, big Sister,” Jamison said in his statement.
harmony’s death exposed dangerous lapses in the child protection services of two states, in part because her disappearance in 2019 went largely unnoticed by authorities in both new hampshire and massachusetts for two years. Sorey had lost custody in 2018 while she was struggling with addiction, and a massachusetts juvenile court judge subsequently awarded custody to Adam montgomery in 2019 despite his lengthy and violent criminal history.
It wasn’t until Sorey went to manchester police in november 2021 that a concerted effort to find harmony was mounted, but her body still has not been found. The revelation of her death spurred calls for reforms of the child protection services in both states. Sorey is also pursuing a wrongful death lawsuit.
manchester police Chief Allen Aldenberg said that law enforcement personnel are grateful for the judge and jury, but that the sentencing marks a “bittersweet” day.
“It’s a horrible, horrible case. . . . my hope is that this never happens again,” he added.
Agati said after the hearing that montgomery will be at least 115 years old before his earliest possible parole date. prosecutors expect montgomery to file an appeal. but Agati said his offer to recommend a lighter sentence if montgomery shares where he dumped his daughter’s body won’t be relevant to any legal questions at issue on appeal.
In a statement, Governor Chris Sununu expressed gratitude to the judge, jury, prosecutors, and law enforcement.
“Adam montgomery is a monster and now will rot in prison for the rest of his life,” he said.