Mass. considers 'Harmony Commission' to examine custody process
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Sep. 26—Many questions have lingered since the authorities charged Adam Montgomery with the murder of his 5-year-old daughter, Harmony.
Harmony had been living in the custody of the Massachusetts Department of Children and Families before a judge released her into the custody of her father.
On Tuesday, Massachusetts lawmakers and others testified on legislation to create the "Harmony Commission" to study and make recommendations related to the welfare and best interests of children in protection cases. The hearing came after a scathing report released by the Office of the Child Advocate in April.
"Harmony Montgomery was failed," state Sen. Michael Moore said. "She was failed by her parents, failed by the Department of Children and Families whose decision caused her emotional trauma, and she was failed by the legal system, who assigned custody to her largely absent father without adequately exploring whether he would be able to appropriately provide her care."
Moore described how a Massachusetts judge granted the custody of Harmony to her out-of-state father despite the father's violent past and the fact he had spent next to no time with her. The judge also ruled that the Interstate Compact for the Placement of Children did not apply in this case, meaning there was never a home study conducted to make sure Adam Montgomery's home was safe — especially for a child with special needs.
New Hampshire has also come out with its own reports on the handling of Harmony's custody case.
Montgomery is accused of beating his 5-year-old daughter, Harmony, to death in 2019. He was charged with second-degree murder following a lengthy search for Harmony, who was reported missing in December 2021, two years after she was last seen alive.
Montgomery is scheduled to go on trial on Nov. 20 in Manchester for Harmony's murder, but his attorney has requested a delay. A hearing is set for Thursday for a judge to consider the request.
Emotional testimony was offered Tuesday by the adoptive parents of Harmony's brother, Jamison, who also tried to adopt Harmony. They said Harmony's death could have been prevented.
"She never had a chance," said Blair Miller, who adopted Jamison, along with his husband Johnathon Bobbitt-Miller.
"They were in and out of foster care together and the two shared a powerful bond," Miller said. "But the two shared more than just a bond. As it's always been told to us by foster parents and members of DCF, Harmony was there to protect her younger brother. She was his safety net."
After finding out about Harmony and her situation, Miller said the couple was prepared to adopt both children, but were told that only Jamison would be up for adoption.
"We now know that just days later, while we were celebrating Jamison's birthday, back in Virginia, Harmony was being brutally beaten," he said. "She was being attacked and eventually killed — the same day we celebrated Jamison."
Bobbitt-Miller said the custody decision introduced "murder, tragedy and heartache" to their family. Sibling visitation could have prevented the murder, he said.
"Their relationship was completely ripped apart at the decision of Massachusetts, which was a systematic failure that has to change," he said.
Jamison had held on to Christmas gifts in hopes of giving them to Harmony one day, and now asks "can she see me from heaven?"
In June, a jury convicted Montgomery on six unrelated felony weapons charges. He has appealed his convictions to the state Supreme Court, questioning whether the court erred in allowing Montgomery's estranged wife, Kayla, to testify during the four-day jury trial.
Judge Amy Messer sentenced him to a minimum of 32 years in state prison.
During his sentencing on the gun convictions, Adam Montgomery denied killing his daughter and asked the jury not to consider that case in its decision.
"I love my daughter unconditionally and I didn't kill her," Montgomery said.
Another person to testify in Massachusetts on Tuesday was retired Juvenile Court Judge Carol Erskine, who finalized Jamison's adoption in November 2019.
"Harmony's care is emblematic of the dangerous child advocacy system that exists in Massachusetts where unlike the majority of other states an independent voice is mandated to present a recommendation regarding the child's best interest," she said.
