Adam Montgomery’s drug dealer insists he ‘wants to help find who killed Harmony’
GRAPHIC WARNING. Anthony Bodero was grilled by Adam Montgomery’s attorneys over five-year-old’s 2019 death
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A man who once sold drugs to Adam Montgomery became agitated while testifying in Montgomery’s trial over the killing of his five-year-old daughter.
Anthony Bodero, the friend that Kayla and Adam Montgomery visited on the day that Harmony died, took the stand on Tuesday. Montgomery is standing trial on murder charges after conceding to two charges of abuse of a corpse and falsifying information in connection with his daughter’s December 2019 death.
Prosecutors have argued that Montgomery beat Harmony to death after he became enraged because the little girl soiled herself while inside his car. At the time, Harmony, Montgomery, Kayla and their two infant sons were living in their vehicle following an eviction. Montgomery’s defence has claimed that Harmony died under Kayla’s care and that their client only went along with plans to conceal and destroy the body to “protect” his family.
During his testimony, Mr Bodero told jurors that Kayla and Adam Montgomery visited his apartment complex on 7 December 2019 — the day that authorities say Harmony was beaten to death. Mr Bodero said the Montgomerys told him their car had broken down and they had nowhere to go,
“They gave me a call, told me they had no place to go and came to where I was staying,” he told the court. “I let them upstairs. I told them, ‘I can let you stay in my car, but I can’t let you stay here because this is not my apartment.’”
The Montgomerys stayed in Mr Bodero’s car for two days. Mr Bodero said he went down to the parking lot a couple of times to check in on the Montgomerys, brought them food and waved at their two infant sons, but did not see Harmony.
Under cross-examination by the defence, Mr Bodero became agitated after attorney Caroline Smith suggested that he “didn’t want anything to do with the investigation or Harmony.”
“It’s not the way you’re making it sound, I want to help you guys,” a visibly exasperated Mr Bodero said.
“Help who?” Ms Smith went on to ask.
“The prosecution. I want to help find who killed that little girl,” Mr Bodero said.
Elsewhere in his testimony Mr Bodero was questioned by Mr Smith on the instances that he allegedly sold drugs to the Montgomerys.
Ms Smith brought up previous testimony from Kayla Montgomery that Mr Bodero allegedly sold drugs to her on 7 December and that she paid with SNAP benefits.
“I don’t recall,” Mr Bodero said.
“So you were still selling them drugs in December?” Ms Smith asked.
“I don’t recall,” Mr Bodero said again.
Kayla and Adam Montgomery did not realise that Harmony had died until several hours after he allegedly repeatedly hit her in the head. According to Kayla’s testimony, they kept the little girl under a blanket in order to hide her bruised and beaten body. The family stopped at a Burger King, with Kayla reportedly even placing a sandwich on the dead girl’s lap, before heading to buy drugs.
After Montgomery realised his daughter was dead, he placed the body inside a duffel bag that he buried in the snow for a few days.
The remains were later crushed to fit inside a diaper bag and further manipulated with lime and different power tools, according to the prosecution, before Montgomery disposed of what was left at an unknown location in March 2021.
Harmony’s remains have never been found.