A Lithonia man has been sentenced to life without parole, plus additional sentences, for the murder of Mi'ckeya Montgomery, the mother of his child. DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston announced the conviction, which occurred after a jury trial found Taco Nash, Jr., 25, guilty of multiple charges including Malice Murder and Felony Murder, following a fatal shooting incident at a local daycare in Decatur, as reported by the DeKalb County District Attorney's Office.
According to evidence presented in the trial, Nash had been instructed by the court to not contact Montgomery due to their volatile past. However, on June 15, 2022, he confronted her at the daycare to discuss returning possessions. When she refused to leave with him, Nash forcefully entered the establishment, armed and dangerous, chased her and their child down, and subsequently dragged both to a nearby wooded area. As a tragic afternoon unfolded, staff and children in the daycare had to quickly act to secure themselves while desperately calling 911.
The chilling details of the incident highlight a heartbreaking scenario where Montgomery attempted to pick up her child from daycare, only to be intercepted by Nash. Witnesses and daycare staff heard screams from the woods and alerted authorities. Not long after, a family member tracking Montgomery's phone and police heard the fatal shot. Nash emerged claiming Montgomery had shot herself, an account refuted by the findings of the DeKalb County Medical Examiner about the gunshot wound's placement, as noted by the official release. The victim was found with a gunshot entry through her upper lip, ruling her death a homicide.
Nash was immediately taken into custody, with the child, fortunately, not physically harmed. A member of Montgomery's family later told officers that Nash had called her to express regret for the murder before he came out of the woods. The prosecutor, Senior Assistant District Attorney Garrett Emmons, and his team presented a case that convinced the jury of Nash's guilt, ending with DeKalb County Superior Court Judge Brian Lake delivering the life sentences without parole, plus sixty years to serve concurrently.
The prosecution’s case, led by Assistant District Attorney Ashley Johnson, District Attorney Investigator Jerad Wheeler, and Victim Advocate Ashley King, was supported by the initial investigation conducted by DeKalb County Police Department Detective C. Fowler. With the case now concluded, Taco Nash, Jr. was sentenced to life in prison without parole, plus an additional sixty years.
