This story was originally produced by Manchester InkLink. NHPR is republishing it in partnership with the Granite State News Collaborative.
Crystal R. Sorey, the mother of murdered 5-year-old Harmony Montgomery, is suing her child’s father who was convicted of beating the child to death in 2019 and then hiding her remains for months.
“From the time Harmony was placed with her father in February 2019 until the date of her death in December 2019, Harmony endured breath-taking abuse and neglect by her father, leading ultimately to Harmony’s homicide,” she alleges in the wrongful death lawsuit filed Monday in Hillsborough County Superior Court Northern District.
Sorey already has settled her lawsuit against New Hampshire for $2.25 million. Adam Montgomery is serving a 56-year-to life sentence after being convicted in 2024 of second-degree murder, witness tampering and abuse of a corpse. He secreted the child’s body in a canvas bag, taking it with him as the family moved from place to place in the city before disposing of the remains in some unknown location. Harmony’s body has never been recovered.
Montgomery is serving his sentence in a Virginia prison.
Attorney C. Kevin Leonard, in the lawsuit he filed on behalf of Harmony’s estate, details what led to Harmony’s death.
On Feb. 22, 2019, a Massachusetts judge awarded custody of Harmony to Montgomery, even though he had a violent history. Sorey had struggled with drug misuse and at the time was in rehab.
Shortly after Montgomery was awarded custody of Harmony, she moved with him to Manchester where she lived with him, her stepmom Kayla, and their two young sons.
Sorey last saw Harmony in a video call in April 2019. After that call, the lawsuit alleges, Adam thwarted all of Sorey’s attempts to contact Harmony by blocking Sorey on his phone and all social media.
By September 2021, Sorey had not seen Harmony in two years, even though she was supposed to have visits with her, because she was unable to locate Adam.
Sorey began a frantic search for Harmony, contacting Manchester police on Nov. 18, 2021, telling them that she had not seen Harmony since a Facetime call on Easter, 2019. It was the first police had learned Harmony was missing.
On Dec. 29, 2021, Crystal sent an email to Manchester Mayor Joyce Craig, begging her for help in finding Harmony. Two days later, Manchester police launched a search for Harmony. That same day, Dec. 31, 2021, police located Adam and Kayla Montgomery. Adam was uncooperative and refused to provide information regarding Harmony’s whereabouts.
Kayla Montgomery eventually told police that between Nov. 27, 2019, and Dec. 7, 2019, when the family was living in their car after being evicted from their home, that Adam would strike Harmony in the face and/or head with a closed fist, sometimes repeatedly.
She told investigators that on Dec. 7, 2019, Adam struck Harmony repeatedly in three separate incidents because she had had a bathroom accident. After the final blow, which took place in the car, Harmony moaned for about five minutes. Neither Adam nor Kayla attended the injured child who later died in the car.
Kayla and Adam then concealed Harmony’s body in a number of locations, including in a bag in the ceiling of an apartment where they lived, before Adam finally disposed of Harmony’s body in an undisclosed location.
