Kayla Montgomery testified Monday that she still cares for her estranged husband Adam Montgomery, but she knew it was the right thing to “betray” him by telling police he beat his daughter, Harmony, to death in December 2019.
On the fourth day of Adam Montgomery’s murder trial, public defender Caroline Smith tried to discredit Kayla Montgomery, alluding to her being the only person who knows what really happened to Harmony.
After testifying all day Friday, Kayla Montgomery, 33, returned to the stand at Hillsborough County Superior Court in Manchester to be cross-examined by Smith. She remained on the stand until 3:30 p.m.
“I felt like I was betraying him, Adam, by telling what happened to Harmony,” Kayla Montgomery testified. “I was fighting with myself because I didn’t want him to be mad at me for doing the right thing.”
Adam Montgomery, 34, is charged with second-degree murder in connection with Harmony’s death in December 2019 and with second-degree assault for allegedly causing bodily injury to her between July 1 and July 22, 2019, including a black eye.
Adam Montgomery has not been in court since the first day of jury selection, waiving his right to appear.
On Friday, Kayla Montgomery testified that she and Adam discovered Harmony had died after their car broke down at Webster and Elm streets. She said Adam repeatedly struck the girl after he smelled urine in the car.
Kayla Montgomery testified that Adam Montgomery was scared because he believed he had seriously hurt her. Although Harmony cried and moaned, neither called 911.
After the beating
After the beating, the couple went to Burger King and ended up using drugs in the parking lot of Colonial Village apartments, Kayla Montgomery testified. She said she did not check on the little girl because she thought she was sleeping.
On Monday morning, Smith picked up her cross-examination of Kayla Montgomery, asking about the timeline of Harmony’s death and the lies Kayla told police and a grand jury.
During its opening statement, the defense said Kayla Montgomery was with Harmony and Adam was away when she died. Adam Montgomery has admitted guilt on charges of abuse of a corpse and falsifying evidence.
Court came to a standstill around 2 p.m. when Kayla Montgomery testified she was aware the defense had pointed the finger at her during its opening statement.
Paul Garrity, a lawyer for Kayla Montgomery, objected, citing attorney-client privilege. Judge Amy Messer overruled the objection.
Smith said the information allowed Kayla Montgomery to prepare the answers she would give.
After Montgomery’s testimony, two other witnesses were called by the prosecution.
Earlier in the morning, Smith suggested Harmony had died hours before Kayla Montgomery said she did and her body was in the truck as they tried to come up with a plan.
“What, no,” Kayla Montgomery responded with a confused look on her face.
Smith said Adam got in the car around 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. and Harmony did not wake up.
“No, that is not what happened,” Kayla Montgomery testified. “Harmony had an accident and Adam kept punching her in the head.”
Smith kept asking Kayla Montgomery why she didn’t clean Harmony up after the bathroom accident, which led to her death.
“I was scared of Adam,” she testified. “When I told him to stop, he gave me the crazy eyes he has and I just didn’t want to do anything because I was scared of him.”
A tense moment came when prosecutor Christopher Knowles tried to ask Kayla Montgomery if Harmony was ”terrified of the defendant.” Smith objected twice.
Judge Messer sustained the objection.
Kayla Montgomery testified that her husband would “go crazy” and would rip the apartment apart thinking it was bugged with audio and video equipment. She said he was physically, emotionally and mentally abusive.
“He thought that I was telling on him, or cheating on him or trying to kill him,” Kayla Montgomery said.
Smith questioned Kayla Montgomery regarding a letter she wrote in jail about wanting to get back together and why she wanted to continue a life with Adam Montgomery.
“We were both trying to fix our family and get back (together),” she said.
Knowles asked her point-blank, “Do you still love the defendant?”
“I still care about him, because he is the father of my children,” Kayla Montgomery said. “He was my best friend. It’s been hard for me to just let go.”
Knowles asked: “Who killed Harmony?”
“Adam Montgomery,” Kayla Montgomery testified.
