A final pretrial hearing for Adam Montgomery’s murder charge began Tuesday morning, with the defendant refusing to appear in court.
Montgomery is currently facing second-degree murder and assault charges in New Hampshire, in connection with the presumed death of his 5-year-old daughter, Harmony Montgomery.
Over the holiday weekend, Montgomery’s defense team submitted motions that could potentially alter how the trial is handled. Initially, Montgomery agreed to consolidate the assault case with the murder case. His attorneys are now seeking to have the charges tried separately.
“There has been a substantial change, or at least we have become aware of a strategy by the state that I believe would be unfair to Mr. Montgomery,” defense attorney Caroline Smith said.
Prosecutors said there wasn’t any additional information that the defense and defendant didn’t already have.
“We really take umbrage with the idea that this is new information with regards to the motion to join, but whether or not the defendant has a right to withdraw his motion for joinder, I think that he does,” Senior Assistant Attorney General Ben Agati said, according to ABC9.
In the event of separate trials, prosecutors said they would prefer the assault trial to precede the murder trial, based on the chronological order of the charges. The assault is the older charge and is considered relevant to the subsequent murder trial.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, Harmony was officially reported missing in December 2021, although she has not been seen in years.
Police received a call from Harmony’s biological mother, Crystal Sorey, on November 18, 2021. She said Adam Montgomery had physical custody of Harmony and she couldn’t get in touch with him.
Sorey said that she lost custody of Harmony in 2018 due to drug issues. Montgomery, according to Sorey, blocked her calls and blocked her from social media, and didn’t allow her to speak to Harmony after Easter 2019.
He was later charged with Harmony’s murder after his ex-wife, Kayla Montgomery, told police that he hit Harmony three times after she had a bathroom accident inside a vehicle, knocking her unconscious.
Adam Montgomery Probable Cause by Leigh Egan
Kayla Montgomery told investigators that no one checked on the victim and didn’t get her medical help. Harmony subsequently passed away, police said, although her body is still missing.
Jury selection is scheduled to begin on February 6. The judge is expected to decide whether the charges should be split into two trials before jury selection. It’s unclear whether another hearing will take place before the trial.
Check back for updates.
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[Feature Photo: Harmony and Adam Montgomery/NHPD]
