The Mystery Behind Harmony Montgomery's Custody Hearing

Do you ever wonder why a 5-year-old girl was placed with a father who had a history of violent crimes? This is the question that has been nagging at us since Harmony Montgomery's tragic death. The highest court in Massachusetts, the Supreme Judicial Court (SJC), is about to hear a case that could shed some light on this mystery. The case involves records from a custody hearing in 2019. This hearing decided that Harmony's father, Adam Montgomery, should have custody of her, even though he had a criminal record. Ten months later, Harmony was dead. Her father was found guilty of her murder and is now in prison. A journalist, Bill Lichtenstein, has been trying to get these records for over a year. He wants to know what really happened at the custody hearing. He thinks the public has a right to know too. The SJC will hear arguments about whether these records should be made public. They might take weeks or even months to make a decision. The question is, why did the judge make this decision? Was it a mistake? Or was there something we don't know? The SJC's decision could help us understand what went wrong and how we can prevent similar tragedies in the future. The case has raised a lot of questions about the child welfare system in Massachusetts. A report from the Massachusetts Office of the Child Advocate said that the lawyer for the Department of Children and Families (DCF) didn't do a good job of arguing against Adam Montgomery having custody. This case is a big deal. It's about more than just Harmony's death. It's about how the system that's supposed to protect children can sometimes fail. We should be paying attention.