Since arriving at Atlanta’s CBS affiliate WANF-TV last September, Blair Miller has been the unflappable evening news anchor informing viewers about murder and tragedy.
But earlier this month, off air, Miller became part of the news in New Hampshire. He and his husband Johnathan Bobbitt-Miller flew to Manchester to read an impact statement on behalf of their adopted 7-year-old son, Jamison, at a sentencing hearing for the person convicted of murdering Jamison’s half sister in 2019.
“When he walked into the courtroom, it took the air out of our lungs,” said Miller in an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “We addressed him by name. We looked straight at him. He didn’t look at us once.”
Adam Montgomery was ultimately sentenced to 45 years to life in prison for the murder of his 5-year-old daughter, Harmony.
“What happened is what needed to happen,” Miller said. “Anything less would have been a problem.”
Jamison, Miller said, spent the first three years of his life in and out of foster homes with his older sister, who had multiple disabilities. They were very close, he said.
“We would have adopted both of them, but the court gave preference to Harmony’s biological father,” Miller said.
Jamison never forgot her sister, despite his young age. Nearly five years since the Millers brought Jamison into their home, Jamison, now 7 years old, still mentions her.
“He will bring her up to friends and teachers,” he said. “We try to make her part of our family. We have always celebrated her birthday and sent her Christmas presents even when we knew she was missing.”
Credit: CONTRIB
Credit: CONTRIB
While Jamison was settling in with the Millers in 2019, Montgomery moved to New Hampshire, abused his daughter, and ultimately beat her to death in December 2019, prosecutors said. He then hid her body in different places over a span of three months before disposing of her corpse, they added.
For two years, the Millers knew nothing about Harmony’s whereabouts. Montgomery lied about Harmony still being alive, according to prosecution. The children’s mother, Crystal Sorey, who was estranged from Montgomery, reported Harmony missing at the end of 2021.
In 2022, the Massachusetts Office of the Child Advocate wrote a report on Harmony’s case, determining that state officials prioritized Harmony’s parents’ rights over the girl’s well-being.
“Harmony didn’t have a voice for a long time,” Miller said. “Nobody knew where she was for two years. How does that happen? There are problems in the system. Things needs to change. There was no follow up after Harmony’s father moved from Massachusetts to New Hampshire. She had disabilities.”
The Millers are vocally advocating at both the state and federal levels for siblings like Jamison and Harmony to have visitation rights. “Jamison needed his sister,” Miller said. “We should have been mandated some kind of visitation. There wasn’t even a requirement for us to be in touch with her. If we had seen how Adam Montgomery was living and how she was being treated, I question if we’d be in this situation.”
Breaking the news of Harmony’s death to Jamison, Miller said, was difficult: “We told him his sister was in heaven, that she’s an angel now. He fell into our arms and sobbed for 45 minutes.”
During the sentencing hearing, Miller’s husband Johnathan, an ER nurse, relayed what Jamison said about his sister: “I’m really sad she’s an angel. I miss her. She was my best friend. I hope she’s eating M&M’s in heaven. I hope her glasses are safe and not broken.”
Prior to adopting Jamison, the Millers adopted two children after a commitment ceremony in 2011. (They were officially married in 2014, six days after North Carolina recognized same-sex marriage.)
In 2012, they matched with a woman in California and adopted her son, who the Millers named Zeke.
“We met her face-to-face, walked into the delivery room,” Miller said. “We still have a wonderful bond with her. We exchanged Happy Mother’s Day videos and texts. She tells us how we’re giving him a life she never could. We are blessed and fortunate to have what we have.”
Thirteen months later, the couple adopted another baby, Cash, the 3-month-old son of a friend whose daughter is their goddaughter.
Six years later, Miller was invited to speak at a National Adoption Day event by Massachusetts juvenile court Judge Carol Erskine. She planted a seed in their head that they could adopt a foster child. They took required parenting classes and were placed with Jamison.
Miller said they remain on good terms with Jamison’s birth mother Sorey, who was unable to take care of him.
“She stays in touch with them,” said Erskine, who has become friends with the Millers. “She felt this was in Jamison’s best interest.”
Erskine is working with the Millers to improve the child welfare laws in Massachusetts, which she deems “really antiquated, with defects that put children at risk.”
Miller does worry about Jamison and hopes a stable childhood will help him.
“He’s already been through more trauma than anyone could imagine,” Miller said. “We want to make sure when he peels back this onion when he gets older, he’ll see we were doing everything to build on Harmony’s legacy, bring awareness and advocate for change.”
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