MANCHESTER, NH (WGME) -- A New Hampshire man, who was found guilty of killing his 5-year-old daughter, Harmony Montgomery, after she had an accident in a car, was sentenced to 45 years to life in prison for her murder Thursday.

Adam Montgomery was found guilty in February of beating his 5-year-old daughter, Harmony Montgomery, to death and then disposing of her remains. Harmony Montgomery's remains have not been found.

New Hampshire prosecutors had recommended a sentence of 56 years to life in prison.

Adam Montgomery was given 45 to life for the second degree murder charge. He was also sentenced to 3.5-7 years for falsifying evidence, 3.5-7 years for tampering with witnesses, a maximum of 12 months for abuse of a corpse and 4-8 years for second degree assault. All sentences will be served consecutively.

Adam Montgomery, who was already sentenced to decades behind bars in August 2023 on gun charges, claimed he did not kill his daughter. However, a jury found him guilty in February of second-degree murder, assault, abuse of a corpse charges and falsifying physical evidence.

Police said Harmony was killed by her father in December 2019.

Prosecutors said Adam Montgomery treated his daughter like a thing he’d broken and needed to throw away, but his lawyer said he wasn't guilty of her death even though he made terrible decisions to hide and move her body.

Authorities said he beat his daughter to death. Police said he repeatedly punched Harmony in the head and disposed of her body.

Harmony Montgomery was 5 years old when she was last seen in early December 2019. But authorities didn’t know she was missing until the fall of 2021.

In November 2021, Harmony Montgomery's biological mother reported to police that she hadn't seen her daughter in person for quite some time. A Massachusetts judge granted Harmony Montgomery's father sole custody.

Her remains have never been found but police have biological evidence she was murdered.

Kayla Montgomery, who is Adam Montgomery's estranged wife, told police that on Dec. 7, 2019, Adam Montgomery was driving in Manchester, New Hampshire, when he turned and punched Harmony Montgomery in the face and head three or four times because she was having accidents in the car and not telling him when she needed to go to the bathroom.

Kayla Montgomery stated that after the final blow, Adam Montgomery said he reportedly felt something or heard something when he hit Harmony Montgomery.

“I think I really hurt her this time. I think I did something,” Adam Montgomery reportedly said.

Harmony Montgomery reportedly began making moaning noises, which went on for about five minutes and then stopped, according to court documents.

Police say at no time did anyone stop to get Harmony medical attention.

Kayla and Adam Montgomery eventually discovered that Harmony was dead, according to court documents.

According to court documents, Kayla Montgomery told police Harmony Montgomery’s body was moved to various locations over the course of the next several months, including a cooler, the ceiling of a shelter, a walk-in cooler at a restaurant Adam Montgomery worked at and refrigerators.

Kayla Montgomery reportedly told police that in the spring of 2020 Adam Montgomery rented a U-Haul and made a trip to an unknown destination to dispose of Harmony Montgomery’s body.

According to court documents, Kayla Montgomery stated she did not know the location of where Adam Montgomery allegedly dumped the body.

Adam Montgomery reportedly had a history of abusing Harmony Montgomery. Investigators said while they were talking to Harmony Montgomery's uncle, he revealed that Adam Montgomery had told him he caused an eye injury to her in 2019.

Adam Montgomery allegedly said, "I bashed her around the house."

Court documents also say Adam Montgomery ordered her to "scrub the toilet with her toothbrush."

"He hated Harmony to his core," Assistant New Hampshire Attorney General Christopher Knowles said during the trial. "And the evidence is gonna show that he did everything to destroy harmony after he beat her, to hide his crime tied evidence of what he'd done."

The defense told a different story. Defense Attorney James Brooks said Kayla Montgomery had been lying all along.

While on the stand, Kayla Montgomery testified that her husband beat her in the months after his daughter’s death, threatening her not to talk to the police.

She served time for perjury and said she only lied to a grand jury in 2022 because she feared for her safety. She was released on parole in March.

Among those who took the stand were Harmony Montgomery's foster mother, who took in Harmony Montgomery when she was a baby.

"She was a loving child. Very sweet,” foster mother Michelle Raftery said. “Very happy. She was super social. She loved to be with people. We used to joke around with her, she left a sparkle wherever she went because wherever she went, she left people happy, and you knew that you met her."

Harmony Montgomery's biological mother, Crystal Sorey, also testified during the trial. She got emotional when prosecutors asked her about the last time she saw her daughter.

Adam Montgomery and Sorey were not in a relationship when their daughter was born in 2014. Harmony Montgomery lived on and off with foster families and her mother until Sorey lost custody in 2018. Adam Montgomery was awarded custody in early 2019, and Sorey testified she last saw her daughter during a FaceTime call around Easter of that year.

In March, a judge has ruled that Harmony Montgomery is legally dead and her mother can become administrator of her estate.

Sorey is taking the first steps in preparation of a planned wrongful death lawsuit against the state regarding Harmony Montgomery.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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