MANCHESTER, NH – The state is questioning whether Kayla Montgomery is abiding by bail conditions that order her not to use drugs and also participate in a drug treatment program after police had contact with her in three incidents in August where drugs were seized.
Senior Assistant Attorney General Jesse O’Neill, in an Aug. 29 motion filed in Hillsborough County Superior Court Northern District, is asking the court to order Montgomery to provide proof she is in compliance with the bail orders.
Montgomery, 32, is stepmother to five-year-old Harmony Montgomery who was declared dead in August after being missing since late November 2019. Kayla Montgomery is facing criminal charges in three separate cases, none related to Harmony’s disappearance or her death. They include theft charges for obtaining welfare benefits for Harmony when the child was not in her care; charges in connection with allegedly stolen firearms; and two counts of perjury for allegedly lying twice before a Grand Jury about where she was working at a time Harmony was missing.
Montgomery was released on bail on those charges with conditions she not consume an excessive amount of alcohol or use any narcotic drug, and she participate in substance use disorder treatment as recommended by a treatment provider.
The bail orders, however, do not have a mechanism for the state to verify that Montgomery is complying with conditions.
According to the motion, police had contact with Montgomery on three separate occasions in August: on Aug. 11, 2022, when officers stopped a car after observing what appeared to be a drug transaction; on Aug. 22, 2022, when police obtained a search warrant for Room 442 at the Even Hotel on John E. Devine Drive, and on Aug. 24, 2022, when police had a search warrant for a camper at Wolf Park.
In the first incident, Montgomery was a passenger in the back seat. The driver was certified as a habitual offender. When police searched the vehicle, with both the driver’s and registered owner’s consent, they found a cigarette packet on the passenger seat where a man had been sitting. Inside the packet were three tied-off baggies containing a white substance consistent with cocaine, and which later field-tested positive for the presence of cocaine. The baggies weighed about 2.4 grams.
Eleven days later, on Aug. 22, 2022, at the Even Hotel, police obtained a search warrant for Room 442. One of the persons in the room was Terrence Jackson. Police said they had information Jackson and Montgomery were “actively selling narcotics from the hotel room,” according to the state’s motion.
Police were watching the hotel, prior to executing the search warrant, and saw a black sedan pull into the parking lot without anyone getting out of the car.
“The behavior and mannerisms of the individuals inside of the vehicle were indicative of drug users,” according to the court document. “Jackson exited the hotel and made his way to speak with the individuals from the sedan.”
When he did, police stopped him. Jackson told them he came down to get some money he was owed from friends. The three individuals in the car told police they were waiting for a ride from someone. Jackson was searched and police said they found a small plastic baggie of a tan power consistent with heroin/fentanyl concealed in his groin area. The baggie weighed about 4.4 grams.
When they search the hotel room, Montgomery was there along with Jackson’s 13-year-old stepdaughter. In the search, police said they recovered drug paraphernalia, evidence indicative of drug sales including about $1,000 in cash, sandwich bags, a crack pipe, a digital scale and about 65 grams (2.3 ounces) of what appeared to be marijuana, and a crack pipe.
Two days later, on Aug. 24, 2022, police searched a camper at Wolfe Park. Parked next to the camper was a Honda Accord, which investigators believed was associated with the camper, after previously having the site under surveillance.
Montgomery and a man were removed from the Accord when police arrived with the search warrant. The man, who is not identified in the motion, consented to a search of the Accord and police found a glass cylindrical pipe with residue between the passenger seat, where Montgomery had been seated, and the center console.
Police also found an unopened Suboxone sublingual film in the passenger-side door handle. The man said the Suboxone was his, and officers found a prescription bottle with his name on it in the glove box.
O’Neill conceded the state has no evidence Montgomery violated the court’s orders but said the conditions are ones the state would not generally be able to verify on its own.
He said based on the police interactions with Montgomery, there is reason to believe she is not abiding by bail conditions.
O’Neill asked the court to require Montgomery to prove she is in compliance with conditions, that is, that she is not using any controlled substance and that she is participating in substance use disorder treatment as recommended by a treatment provider.
The defense has yet to respond to the motion.
