Kayla Montgomery reveals what the family did after Harmony was ‘beaten to death’
Kayla Montgomery told a court in Manchester, New Hampshire, that Adam Montgomery always kept his daughter covered with a blanket to hide her bruised body
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Kayla Montgomery recounted what she and her estranged husband did as her stepdaughter Harmony Montgomery’s body lay covered under a blanket in the back of their car.
Kayla took the stand at Adam Montgomery’s murder trial over the 7 December 2019 death of his five-year-old daughter. Prosecutors in Manchester, New Hampshire, have alleged, based on Kayla’s testimony, that Montgomery beat Harmony to death after he became enraged because the little girl had bathroom accidents in the car.
Harmony, her father, stepmother and two half-siblings were living in a car at the time after being evicted from their home.
Meanwhile, Montgomery’s attorneys have claimed that Harmony actually died under Kayla’s care and that their client initially “took the fall” and helped destroy the body to “protect” Kayla and their two young sons.
On Monday, Kayla told jurors about the rampant abuse that Harmony was subjected to in the days leading up to her death. Kayla had previously revealed that neither she nor Montgomery realised Harmony was dead for hours. Kayla told jurors Montgomery always kept Harmony covered with a blanket to hide her bruised body from strangers.
The couple pulled up to a Burger King drive-thru to get food, with Kayla allegedly even putting a sandwich on the dead little girl’s lap. They then drove to a friend’s apartment complex, where they purchased drugs before finally realising Harmony had died.
“After the defendant repeatedly struck Harmony. After he put the blanket over her. After she moaned. After the strange crying moaning stopped. After you did drugs and after the car died, you thought she was sleeping under that blanket,” a prosecutor asked Kayla. “Why did you think that she may be sleeping after Adam repeatedly struck her?”
“Because she would usually just go to sleep after,” she answered.
Under cross-examination by the defence, Kayla also admitted that Harmony had dried blood on her face from beatings days before she was killed.
“And you didn’t clean her face?” Montgomery’s attorney Caroline Smith asked in shock.
“No, we just kept her under the blanket,” an emotionless Kayla answered.
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.
Last week, her father said he intended to plead guilty to two lesser charges of abuse of a corpse and falsifying information.
Kayla Montgomery is currently serving a prison sentence on perjury charges after initially lying to a grand jury about Harmony’s whereabouts.