- Adam Montgomery, the father suspected of killing 5-year-old Harmony Montgomery, hated her “with all his heart,” a friend testified Tuesday.
- Rebecca Mains also testified that Montgomery’s estranged wife refused to visit him, even though she had legal custody of him.
- Mr. Montgomery is currently incarcerated for 30 years on a gun conviction and is being tried in absentia.
A New Hampshire man accused of killing his 5-year-old daughter hated her “deep down” because she reminded him of her mother, his friend testified Tuesday.
Rebecca Maynes, who is serving a prison sentence for a parole violation, said that in the summer of 2021, Adam Montgomery had been trying to meet her daughter, Harmony Montgomery, since 2019, and dropped her off to be with her mother. He testified. He said she had caused the toilet accident “intentionally”.
Even though Adam Montgomery had been granted legal custody of the girl months before her disappearance, Maynes testified that Harmony’s mother told her she would not be allowed visitation.
Father beat daughter, then ate fast food, took drugs and daughter died in backseat of car, prosecutors say
Authorities believe Montgomery killed the girl on December 7, 2019, but she was not reported missing until almost two years later. Harmony’s body has never been found.
Adam Montgomery pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in 2022 and declared in court last year that he did not kill his daughter in an unrelated incident and that he loved her unconditionally. When his trial began in Manchester on February 7, his defense team admitted he was guilty of two lesser charges he was facing: falsifying evidence and abuse of a corpse. But they suggested he did not kill Harmony, and that Harmony may have actually died on December 6, alone with Adam’s estranged wife, stepmother Kayla Montgomery. claimed to have done so.
Adam Montgomery is serving a 30-year sentence for an unrelated gun conviction, but did not attend the trial. Prosecutors will rest Tuesday and the defense is scheduled to make arguments Wednesday.
Rebecca Maynes testifies during the trial of Adam Montgomery in Hillsborough County Superior Court on Tuesday, February 20, 2024 in Manchester, New Hampshire. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa, Pool)
Maynes, who at one point described Montgomery as her best friend, also testified about events that occurred before she said she took Harmony to her mother. She said the man told her daughter that he had “tried” to her after seeing her daughter put her hand on her brother’s lips and nose. In previous testimony, Adam Montgomery’s uncle testified that he gave Harmony a black eye at her parents’ home in 2019, and that Adam saw Harmony put his hands on her brother. He testified that he said he “beat” her inside her home.
On cross-examination, Ms. Maynes was asked about her criminal history, including convictions for theft and fraud from 2014 to 2019. She is scheduled for her parole hearing in April, but she also faces several outstanding charges.
“I’m a criminal. I have no problem saying that,” Maynes testified. When she was also asked about her missed court appearance for her case, she said she was in treatment for substance abuse.
Defense attorneys also suggested Maynes was trying to improve his legal situation by testifying. She denied making any promises or requests regarding her pending indictment in exchange for her testimony.
Adam Montgomery and Harmony’s mother, Crystal Slay, were not dating at the time of Harmony’s birth in 2014. The child lived intermittently with a foster family and his mother. Crystal Slay lost custody of Harmony in 2018, and custody was awarded to Adam Montgomery in February 2019. Slay testified that the last time she saw her daughter was on a FaceTime call around Easter of that year.
Kayla Montgomery is the star witness against her estranged husband. She pleaded guilty to perjury for lying during grand jury testimony about where Harmony was last seen, and she is serving an 18-month prison sentence. She acknowledged to her attorney that although she was not granted immunity, she did not face further punishment due to discrepancies in various statements she made to police and prosecutors.
Kayla Montgomery testified that her husband repeatedly punched Harmony in the head because the girl peed herself. She said her family, including the couple’s two young sons, had been evicted and were living in their car at the time. According to Kayla, on the morning of Dec. 7, 2019, Adam punched Harmony at a stoplight on the way from a methadone clinic to a fast food restaurant.
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She also said that she gave the children food without checking on Harmony, that the girl was later found dead, and that the place where her husband hid the body (a vent in the ceiling of the homeless shelter) He also testified about his mouth and walk-in freezer. At her husband’s workplace. Kayla Montgomery did not come forward about Harmony’s death because she was afraid of her husband, she testified.
