CONCORD, N.H. — The New Hampshire Supreme Court has reversed the second-degree murder conviction of Adam Montgomery in the death of his 5-year-old daughter Harmony Montgomery, whose body has never been found, court officials said.
The unanimous ruling, issued on Thursday, found that the trial judge improperly joined the murder charge with a separate second-degree assault charge from an earlier incident involving the child. The high court said the combination risked prejudicing the jury against Montgomery on the more serious charge.
Montgomery was convicted in 2024 of second-degree murder and other counts in the case of Harmony, who authorities believe was killed in late 2019. Her disappearance was not reported until 2021. He was sentenced to a minimum of 56 years in prison on the murder and related convictions, to be served consecutively with a prior sentence on firearms charges.
The Supreme Court upheld Montgomery's convictions on the lesser assault charge, falsifying evidence, witness tampering and abuse of a corpse. Those convictions, along with the separate firearms case, leave him with a minimum sentence of more than 40 years, officials said.
Prosecutors have said they plan to retry Montgomery on the murder charge. Details on the timing of any new trial remain unclear.
Harmony’s mother, Crystal Sorey, and other family members expressed disappointment with the ruling. “This is devastating for our family,” Sorey said in a statement. “We just want justice for Harmony.”
The case drew national attention after Harmony was reported missing from Manchester, New Hampshire. Authorities alleged Montgomery killed the child, moved her body for months in a vehicle and later disposed of it. No remains have been recovered despite extensive searches.
Montgomery’s attorneys argued during the appeal that trying the assault and murder charges together was prejudicial. The Supreme Court agreed, reversing only the murder conviction while leaving the other verdicts intact.
The decision has renewed calls from some advocates to examine child welfare system failures that allowed prior reports of abuse involving Harmony to go unaddressed. Officials have not commented on potential changes in response to those concerns.
As of Friday, Montgomery remained in prison serving his upheld sentences. The Hillsborough County Attorney’s Office said it would move forward with a retrial on the murder charge. Further proceedings in the case are expected in the coming months.
