Dad’s murder conviction overturned in 5-year-old Harmony Montgomery’s death

CONCORD, N.H. (TCN) -- The New Hampshire Supreme Court has overturned Adam Montgomery’s second-degree murder conviction in the death of his 5-year-old daughter.

On Feb. 22, 2024, 36-year-old Adam Montgomery was convicted of second-degree murder, second-degree assault, falsifying evidence, witness tampering, and abuse of a corpse in connection with the death of his daughter, Harmony Montgomery. The child’s mother, Crystal Sorey, contacted authorities in November 2021 to say she had not seen her daughter in six months and the child was in her father’s custody.

Sorey had substance abuse issues that caused her to lose custody of the child, Court TV reports, and she had reportedly tried to get in contact with her daughter for months.

During the investigation, Adam Montgomery’s wife, Kayla Montgomery, said they had been evicted from their home around Thanksgiving 2019 and the family had been living in their car. According to a probable cause affidavit, Harmony Montgomery would reportedly have bathroom accidents in the car. On Dec. 7, 2019, she reportedly had an accident, so her father allegedly beat her with a closed fist. She moaned for five minutes and then stopped.

Kayla Montgomery testified at trial that her husband “was getting really angry from Harmony peeing in the car, and he repetitively kept punching her on the way to Burger King” when stopped at red lights.

After Adam Montgomery parked the car, he allegedly put the child’s body into a duffel bag and moved it around to multiple locations, including his mother-in-law’s house and the ceiling of a transitional housing shelter. 

At one point, the bag was leaking through the ceiling, so he allegedly wrapped the child’s body in plastic before placing it back into the duffel, according to the probable cause affidavit. Investigators performed DNA testing on the ceiling, which showed it likely came from Harmony Montgomery. Montgomery’s defense argued his wife killed the child. 

Court TV reports Kayla Montgomery’s testimony provided the only direct link between Adam Montgomery and the child’s death. Witnesses took the stand who had observed Harmony Montgomery with a black eye in July 2019, and others stated Adam Montgomery had admitted to hitting her.

On June 11, the New Hampshire Supreme Court overturned Adam Montgomery’s conviction following his appeal in October 2025, NBC Boston reports. He had been sentenced to 56 years in prison for second-degree murder and second-degree assault.

In a unanimous decision, the justices agreed that combining the separate murder and assault cases had a negative impact on Adam Montgomery’s right to a fair trial.

According to the ruling, “There was a significant risk that the jury would draw the impermissible inference that because the defendant assaulted the victim before by striking her in the head, he must be the one who fatally assaulted her in December by again striking her in the head.”

Though the second-degree murder conviction was dismissed, Adam Montgomery’s convictions for the other charges were affirmed, according to NBC Boston. The New Hampshire Attorney General’s Office will pursue a retrial on the overturned charge.

Attorney General John Formella said, “This is a case and a story that has been really difficult for the city of Manchester, for the entire state, and our hearts just go out to Harmony Montgomery’s family, her loved ones, all those who knew and loved her and everybody who’s been affected by this case,” WMUR reports. “We respect this decision, but we’re very disappointed by it.”

CBS News reports that Adam Montgomery will not be released from prison, where he is currently serving 32 ½ years for gun charges unrelated to the case.

The adoptive parents of Harmony Montgomery’s brother released a statement following the New Hampshire Supreme Court’s decision that reads, “We are absolutely disgusted by the decision of the New Hampshire Supreme Court. The reality is — more protection is in place for this monster than Harmony Montgomery ever received.

“It’s always been our hope and prayer that Harmony’s brother and our son, Jamison, would not have to experience court proceedings where he would see or hear about the nightmare that his sister lived. We always wanted his youth to help shield him. This decision by the justice system now means the nightmare returns and his innocence will be victimized again and again. It’s not right.”

WCAX reports Sorey was awarded $2.25 million from the state of New Hampshire following an accusation that social workers ignored the signs that Harmony Montgomery was being harmed after being placed in her father’s custody. Though they settled, the state did not admit to any wrongdoing.

According to NBC Boston, Harmony Montgomery’s remains have never been found.

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