DCYF had ‘no concerns’ about Harmony after frequent home visits in months before her death, court documents reveal

MANCHESTER, NH — Adam Montgomery’s uncle offered to pay Kayla Montgomery $500 to have Harmony go live with relatives in Florida after the 5-year-old suffered a black eye in the summer of 2019, allegedly at the hands of her father, according to court documents filed by his defense team.

“Absolutely not,” Kayla texted back, according to the court filing.

The defense, in filing the documents, is asking Hillsborough County Superior Court North Judge Amy Messier to grant their request for two trials next month:  one for the second-degree murder, abuse of corpse and other charges, and the other for second-degree assault, alleging Montgomery, 33, blackened his daughter’s eye, five months before he allegedly murdered her.

Originally, the defense had agreed to one trial but moved to sever them after prosecutors provided them with additional information after reinterviewing Kayla Montgomery, who is the state’s key witness.

In the latest interview, Kayla Montgomery, who has filed for a divorce, told prosecutors her husband had been assaulting Harmony since April 2019, eight months before she died.  The defense was under the impression that there was an alleged assault in July and then the alleged killing, but not months of ongoing abuse.

The defense, as an exhibit, provided the court with some reports from the Manchester Police Department, the Division of Children, Youth and Families, and a medical record from Catholic Medical Center (CMC) in June 2019 where Harmony was treated for impetigo.  All of the reports, including the medical record, indicated there were no concerns for Harmony’s well-being.

The majority of the information contained in the reports were already made public when the affidavit in support of Montgomery’s arrest was unsealed and when the state of Massachusetts issued its investigative report as to how Adam Montgomery, who had a violent past, was able to obtain custody of Harmony.

The June 2, 2019, CMC record indicated that Harmony weighed 35.2 pounds and was a “well appearing child, appropriate for age, no acute distress.”

Among the documents filed are reports from Demetrios Tsaros, a social worker from DCYF, who visited the Montgomery family at their 77 Gilford St. on several occasions – some unannounced – between July and October 2019.  He found nothing concerning about Harmony in those visits.

In an Aug. 8, 2019 visit, he spoke to Harmony about her eye injury.  That day, Adam told him he had bought the children foam bats that they were playing with.  He said one of his sons picked up his plastic lightsaber and swung it, hitting Harmony on the corner of her eye, causing some bruising and some blood in her eye.

He said he had a major falling out with his uncle, Kevin Montgomery, that Kevin was the one calling people and asking them to call in reports.  He then showed Tsaros the text that Kevin sent to Kayla, telling her that he will give her $500 to have Harmony go live with relatives in Florida to which Kayla told him “absolutely not.”

Tsaras then talked with Harmony, who was “clean and healthy” with no visible concerns.

“She was watching a movie,” Tsaros wrote.  “This worker spoke with her a bit, making small talk. She seemed to be in a good mood and was friendly.  This worker observed the red mark in her right eye, and some faded bruising under the eyelid. She was wearing eyeglasses and removed them to show me.  I asked her what happened and she explained a similar version of what her dad told me that Sheamus swung his light saber and it hit her eye.  I asked if it still hurt and she said no, it doesn’t bother her. I asked if she felt safe in the home and she said yes.  I asked if there was anything that happened to her that made her scared or sad and she said no.  I asked if her mom, dad or anyone else hurt her recently or ever and she said no.”

On Oct. 1, 2019, Tsaros called and spoke with Adam.  He asked him why Harmony was not in school.  Adam told him he tried to get Harmony into kindergarten but he was told by the staff at Parker Varney that he couldn’t prove she was a New Hampshire resident.  Tsaros told Adam if he had issues with registration that he could give them his name and number and he would help.  The filings do not indicate whether DCYF followed up on the schooling issue.

Investigators have said that Harmony was not enrolled in school.  While New Hampshire schools are required to provide at least part-time kindergarten, children are not required to attend.

Montgomery is accused of striking his daughter repeatedly inside a car on Dec. 7, 2019, as he was driving the family to a fast-food restaurant.  The 5-year-old died as a result, according to investigators.

Montgomery then put his daughter’s body in a duffle bag and other containers, taking her remains with him for months as the family moved from place to place.  One time, he placed a container with her remains in a cooler at an Elm Street restaurant where he worked. Her body has never been recovered.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin the first week of February with the murder trial expected to take about 3 ½ weeks.

You can reach Pat Grossmith at pgrossmith@gmail.com

Below: Court documents cited.