Denisha Montgomery was a 27-year-old mother raising her three young sons in Hodgenville, Kentucky. She had always been interested in forensics, and in January 2021, she enlisted in the army, following other family members. She was also determined to create a better life for her husband, Joshua Smith, and their three sons.
Denisha Montgomery (k105.com)
Denisha was deployed to Germany in 2022 for a 9-month rotation with the 139th Military Police Company at Fort Stewart. In May of the same year, she was stationed in Wiesbaden, Germany, and was set to return home to the United States in September.
She was perfect, always a leader, always there for everybody... She just wanted us to be proud of her. And we were absolutely proud of her, everything she did.Joshua Smith, widower of Denisha Montgomery (wdrb.com)
Denisha’s time in the Army quickly took a turn for the worse. On July 19, 2022, she video-called her family back home. She asked them to record the call, and for the next 12 minutes, she frantically recounted what had happened to her that day. On her day off, she had gone to an off-base water park with four fellow soldiers from her unit. They had been drinking, and on the car ride home, she was assaulted and strangled by them.
They choked me out, I kept telling them, I can't breathe. I was like, I can't breathe! I was gasping for air. I ain't never been so scared in my life. I legit thought I was going to die in the car...I can't be here no more. I don't trust them. I don't trust my leadership. I don't want to be here with none of them no more.Denisha Montgomery to her family during a video call (armytimes.com)
During the call (which can be seen in the video above), Denisha showed her family bruises on her body from the attack and said she planned to report the assault to the Army’s Criminal Investigation Division (CID) the following day. Her family immediately contacted the Red Cross to report the incident.
The next day, Denisha messaged her uncle to say that her conversation with CID had not gone well. She said that if she reported the assault, she would also be charged with assault for fighting back and hitting and biting the male and female soldiers who attacked her. She told her uncle she decided not to report the incident because she didn’t want to get in trouble. To draw attention away from herself, she kept mostly to her room, stayed quiet, and continued going to work while waiting to return to Stewart, where she hoped to transfer to another squad.
Twenty-one days after the attack, on August 21, 2022, Denisha Montgomery was found unresponsive at Lucius Clay Barracks and pronounced dead at the scene. The Army informed Denisha’s family during preliminary findings, before autopsy results were available, that she had most likely taken her own life. They cited suicide by hanging, noting a ligature mark found on her neck. She was reportedly found on her knees in her closet.
They said, we’re sorry to inform you that your daughter has committed suicide by suffocation. And I said, How do you suffocate yourself. How can you possibly suffocate yourself?Heather Montgomery, mother of Denisha Montgomery (everythinglubbock.com)
Denisha’s entire family firmly believes she would never have killed herself. Despite the Army declaring her death a suicide, they also claimed to be actively investigating and following all possible leads. However, to date, the Army has not contacted the family to ask about the assault.
The Army has issued a no-contact order for the individuals who were in the car with Denisha, preventing them from speaking with her family. CID, however, presented a conflicting version of events: they claimed that two individuals unrelated to Denisha’s group attempted to sexually assault her in a restroom at the water park, and the soldiers in her group (the same ones Denisha accused) intervened to help her.
The family has now taken matters into their own hands, hiring attorney Lindsey Knapp to help them investigate the case.
UPDATE - December 10, 2023
ABC News Primetime ran a segment highlighting Denisha's case and the broader issue of sexual assault in the military. During the segment, new details emerged from the family’s attorney, Lindsey Knapp, including a video from the night in question.
Ms. Knapp revealed that members of Denisha’s unit were reportedly sleeping with supervisors for protection. She also stated that Denisha’s superiors had turned off the security cameras on the night of her death—cameras that would have shown who entered and exited the area. There is a gap in the base’s security footage: from July 18 (the day of the assault) to August 11 (two days after Denisha’s death), no footage was recorded.
Photographs of Denisha’s belongings show them already packed, suggesting she was preparing to come home.
The family is now urging the FBI to take over the case from the military. Please visit Combat Sexual Assault to learn more about how you can help.
