Harmony Montgomery’s stepmom was granted parole on Thursday, 16 months after she went to prison for lying about her whereabouts the day the New Hampshire 5-year-old was murdered by her dad.
Kayla Montgomery, 34, pleaded guilty in 2022 to two felony counts of perjury and was sentenced to serve at least 18 months behind bars. As part of the deal, she also agreed to testify against her husband, Adam Montgomery, at his murder trial, where he was convicted of killing his daughter in November 2019 and dumping her body four months later.
At trial, she testified about watching her husband fatally beat Harmony for having a bathroom accident—before putting the girl’s body in a duffle bag and moving her remains around for months. Harmony’s body has never been found.
Adam Mongomery was convicted last month of all charges, and he’s set to be sentenced in May.
At trial, Kayla said that, fearing for her safety, she lied to authorities when she first told them Harmony had been dropped off at her biological mother’s home
“What didn’t happen was I didn’t tell the truth about where I was during that time and not being able to cooperate with the detectives,” Kayla further explained to the three-member parole board on Thursday, Court TV reported. “I got all caught up in the situation and if I just was honest from the beginning they could have done their job sooner.”
She then revealed that she has been making steps to repair her relationships with her children and family since she has been in prison. The parole board concluded that Kayla will be allowed to leave prison as soon as she completes the rest of her required programs, which should happen in about a month, according to the Union Leader.