Mother of 5-year-old girl killed by father takes first steps in planned wrongful death lawsuit
CONCORD, N.H. — The mother of a 5-year-old girl who was murdered in 2019 and whose body has not yet been found, asked a New Hampshire judge on Monday to declare the girl legally dead and be appointed administrator of her estate.
Crystal Sorey took the first steps to prepare for a planned wrongful death lawsuit against the state involving her daughter, Harmony Montgomery, more than two weeks after Harmony’s father, Adam Montgomery, was convicted of fatally beating her and other crimes.
Sorey’s attorney told Judge Beth Kissinger in Nashua that Adam Montgomery’s second-degree murder conviction, plus his guilty plea on lesser charges that he then moved her body for months and falsified physical evidence, was enough to result in a statutory declaration of death .
Kissinger did not immediately rule and requested court paperwork, including the jury’s verdict and a bond from Sorey, which would guarantee she would fulfill her duties as administrator under the law.
“I’m basically her warrior,” Sorey said of her daughter afterward, WMUR-TV reported. “Everything I do is for her.”
A Webex connection was set up at the men’s state prison in Concord so Adam Montgomery could participate in the hearing, but he declined to attend, a prison official said. Montgomery had also refused to appear at his two-week trial.
Montgomery and Sorey were not dating when their daughter was born in 2014. Harmony Montgomery lived on and off with foster families and her mother until Sorey lost custody in 2018. Montgomery was awarded custody in early 2019, and Sorey testified that she last saw her. daughter during a FaceTime call around Easter that year.
Sorey eventually went to the police, who announced that they were looking for the missing child on New Year’s Eve 2021. In early 2022, authorities searched a home in Manchester where Montgomery had lived and charged him with assault, interference with custody and child endangerment.
In June, Montgomery also faced numerous charges related to stolen guns, while his estranged wife, Kayla Montgomery, was charged with perjury for lying to a grand jury investigating her stepdaughter’s disappearance. She is serving an 18-month prison sentence and is expected to be released on parole in May.
In August 2022, Attorney General John Formella announced that investigators believed Harmony was dead and the case was being treated as a homicide.
Harmony Montgomery’s case has exposed weaknesses in child protection systems and prompted calls to prioritize the welfare of children over parents in custody cases.