In the summer of 2022, a young mother's life was tragically cut short in a violent encounter that unfolded in broad daylight. Twenty-one-year-old Mickeya Montgomery was shot and killed on June 15, 2022, in a wooded area behind a daycare center in Decatur, Georgia. She was holding her 16-month-old daughter at the time of the incident. The man responsible for her death was the child's father, Taco Nash.
The events leading to Montgomery's death began at the Education Elevation Children Academy on Snapfinger Park Drive, where she had gone to pick up her daughter. Nash, with whom Montgomery had a tumultuous and abusive relationship, unexpectedly appeared at the daycare. There was a court order prohibiting contact between the two, and Montgomery had previously instructed the daycare staff to call 911 if he ever showed up. An employee at the center tried to intervene by pulling Montgomery and her child back inside the building while another called for help. However, Nash forced his way into the facility, chasing Montgomery and threatening her with a gun in front of staff and other children. He then forced Montgomery and their daughter out a back door, over a fence, and into the nearby woods.
Daycare staff, hearing screams from the woods, called 911 again. A family member of Montgomery's who was tracking her phone also arrived at the scene. As police were approaching the wooded area, they heard a single gunshot. Shortly after, Nash emerged from the trees holding his daughter, who was covered in blood, and claimed that Montgomery had shot herself. The child was taken to a hospital for minor injuries. Authorities found Montgomery in the woods, deceased from a single gunshot wound to the head. A firearm was discovered under her hand, a detail Nash's defense would later use to argue her death was a suicide. However, the DeKalb County Medical Examiner's Office ruled her death a homicide. A family member also told police that Nash had called them before coming out of the woods and confessed to killing Montgomery.
Taco Nash was taken into custody and subsequently charged with a litany of offenses, including malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, kidnapping, and cruelty to children. His history of domestic violence against Montgomery was extensive, with multiple prior arrests for allegedly harming her. Despite this history, he had been repeatedly released on bond. Two weeks before her death, Montgomery had written a note expressing her fear that Nash would one day kill her. During his trial, Nash's defense team contended that Montgomery had taken her own life, pointing to a note found in her purse and the location of the gun. However, the jury was not persuaded. After deliberating for less than four hours, they found Taco Nash guilty on all 13 counts. He was sentenced to three life sentences without the possibility of parole, plus an additional 60 years in prison. A permanent protective order was also issued for Montgomery's family.
