Spam mail delays plea deal in Kayla Montgomery criminal cases

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Kayla Montgomery during a proceeding on May 5, 2022, in Hillsborough Superior Court. File Photo/Charles Krupa

MANCHESTER, NH – An errant email caused a delay in ongoing plea negotiations in the cases against Kayla Montgomery, the stepmother of
murdered 5-year-old Harmony Montgomery.

Friday afternoon a status hearing, that lasted minutes and which Montgomery did not attend, was held in Hillsborough County Superior Court Northern District in the cases.

Defense attorney Paul Garrity said he and state prosecutors had not reached a plea agreement although both sides were discussing the issue and asked
for more time. Judge Amy Messer set a hearing for Nov. 18 at 1:30 p.m. Prosecutor Jesse O’Neill said a technical issue caused a delay in
negotiations.

After the hearing, Garrity said they were discussing a plea deal by phone and in email correspondence. However, he said, an email from O’Neill ended up
in his spam folder so he did not see it. When the two met Friday at court, he said they quickly figured out what had happened.

The judge gave them more time for further talks but said all paperwork concerning any plea deal had to be filed with the court by Nov. 16.

If there is no deal, a motion must be filed which would cancel the plea and sentencing hearing and a status hearing would be set.

In October, Montgomery’s estranged husband Adam Montgomery, Harmony’s father, was charged with second-degree murder in his daughter’s death. He
is accused of repeatedly punching the child in the head, killing her, in December 2019.

Investigators said Kayla Montgomery, when interviewed in a stolen weapons case involving Adam, told them he killed Harmony.

She is facing charges in that case as well, along with welfare fraud counts, for receiving food stamps for Harmony when she was already dead, and two
counts of perjury accusing her of lying to a Grand Jury about when she was working at the time Harmony went missing.


 

About this Author

Pat Grossmith

Pat Grossmith is a freelance reporter.