Man found guilty of murdering woman as she held their baby

A man was sentenced to life in prison for killing a woman in the woods behind a daycare while she held their child.

A DeKalb County jury convicted 25-year-old Taco Nash Jr. from Lithonia of several charges, including malice murder and four counts of felony murder, in connection with the fatal shooting of 22-year-old Mi’ckeya Montgomery, according to District Attorney Sherry Boston.

The judge then sentenced Nash to three life sentences without the possibility of parole, followed by another 60 years in prison.

On the afternoon of June 15, 2022, police responded to a kidnapping call at a daycare center in the 5300 block of Snapfinger Park Drive in unincorporated Decatur, according to the district attorney’s office.

Prosecutors said Montgomery was at the daycare to pick up the young child she shared with Nash when he showed up unexpectedly. Nash had called Montgomery repeatedly that day, asking her to meet him to return some of his belongings.

When Nash couldn’t get in touch with Montgomery, he confronted her and their child outside the daycare.

Prosecutors said the two “had a tumultuous relationship that included previous violent incidents,” and were under a court order not to contact each other. Montgomery had also told daycare staff to call 911 if Nash showed up there.

The district attorney’s office said Nash tried to convince Montgomery to leave with him. Instead, a daycare employee pulled Montgomery and the child back inside and called 911.

Nash then forced his way in and “chased the two around the building while several children and staff were present,” prosecutors said.

He pointed a gun at Montgomery, ”threatened to shoot her in the face, then forced her and the child out the back door, over a fence and into a wooded area."

Daycare staff could hear screaming coming from the woods and called 911 again for help.

A member of Montgomery’s family who’d been tracking her phone arrived and tried to find her. When police arrived, the family member told them Montgomery’s phone was in the woods behind the daycare.

Officers heard a single gunshot as they approached the woods.

Several minutes later, Nash emerged holding the child, who was covered in blood, and claimed Montgomery had shot herself.

Officers arrested Nash and found Montgomery dead in the woods from a single gunshot to the head.

Prosecutors said it’s believed Montgomery was holding the child, who was not injured, when she was shot.

Officers found a gun under Montgomery’s hand, but the DeKalb County Medical Examiner’s Office determined her manner of death to be a homicide based on the location of the gunshot wound.

A family member of Montgomery’s reportedly told officers Nash called her while he was in the woods, telling her he was sorry for killing Montgomery.

Along with the murder charges, Nash was convicted of aggravated assault, two counts of kidnapping, aggravated stalking, first-degree cruelty to children and three firearms charges.