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The ruling comes more than a year after Adam Montgomery was convicted of killing his 5-year-old daughter.
Adam Montgomery was convicted of second-degree murder in the death of his 5-year-old daughter, Harmony. Charles Krupa
Adam Montgomery, the New Hampshire man convicted of killing his 5-year-old daughter, Harmony Montgomery, has been found financially liable for her death in civil court.
A Hillsborough County Superior Court judge ordered Montgomery, 36, to pay nearly $15.5 million to Harmony’s estate, according to court records filed this week in a wrongful death lawsuit brought by the girl’s mother, Crystal Sorey.
In the order, Judge Michael A. Klass found that Montgomery intentionally caused Harmony’s death and awarded damages tied to her suffering, the loss of her life, and Montgomery’s “egregious conduct,” according to court records cited by the Boston Globe.
While it’s unlikely that Montgomery can pay the judgment, a lawyer for Harmony’s estate said the lawsuit was meant to formally hold him accountable.
“The civil judgment cannot bring Harmony back,” attorney C. Kevin Leonard, who represents Sorey and her daughter’s estate, said in a statement. “But the Court made clear that Adam Montgomery was responsible for this heartbreaking and senseless tragedy.”
Montgomery was convicted in 2024 of second-degree murder, falsifying evidence, and abusing a corpse, after prosecutors said he beat Harmony to death in December 2019 while he and the girl were living in a car following an eviction.
Authorities said Montgomery then hid his daughter’s body for months instead of reporting her death, moving her remains between several locations in New Hampshire and Massachusetts. Harmony’s body has never been found.
The case drew national attention, as Harmony’s disappearance went unnoticed for nearly two years. Concerns grew in late 2021 when Sorey, who had lost custody of Harmony while struggling with substance use issues, went looking for her daughter and reported her missing.
Before Harmony was killed, a Massachusetts judge had awarded custody to the girl’s father despite his violent criminal history. The decision later sparked calls for reforms to child welfare systems in both Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
Last year, Harmony’s estate reached a $2.25 million settlement with New Hampshire officials in a separate wrongful death case, accusing state agencies of failing to protect the child.
Montgomery, who is serving a prison sentence of at least 56 years to life for his daughter’s murder, did not respond to the lawsuit or appear in court, records show. Because of that, the judge found him in default before issuing the damages award.
Montgomery is currently appealing his criminal conviction.
Morgan Rousseau is a freelance writer for Boston.com, where she reports on a variety of local and regional news.
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