BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — An Alabama man is in jail after authorities allege he fatally shot his pregnant ex-girlfriend’s teen daughter and injured the woman’s 5-year-old son last week.
Otis Lee Montgomery III, 27, of Birmingham, is charged with capital murder in the killing of 15-year-old Cornelia Rose Lathan. According to authorities, he is also charged with attempted murder and discharging a firearm into an occupied dwelling.
Birmingham police officers responded shortly after noon on June 19 to the Park Place Apartments, where they found Lathan and her brother suffering from gunshot wounds inside their home. Fire medics pronounced Lathan dead at the scene.
The 5-year-old boy was taken to Children’s of Alabama for treatment of a gunshot wound to the leg.
Montgomery, who quickly became a suspect, was taken into custody within an hour of the shooting, police said.
AL.com reported that police were called to the family’s apartment earlier in the day for a domestic call. The dispute at that time was verbal, and Montgomery left.
Hours later, he returned with a gun, authorities allege. Montgomery is accused of standing in the parking lot and firing into his ex-girlfriend’s home.
Witnesses said they heard three or four gunshots, according to AL.com. They identified Montgomery as the man they saw fleeing after the shooting.
The children’s mother, who was not injured by the gunfire, was taken to a hospital for observation.
“It’s just a very heinous situation,” Birmingham police Chief Scott Thurmond said. “We have kids out of school, trying to enjoy the summer, and we’ve got someone so angry they believe they have to take violence into their hands and shoot into an apartment. A young, innocent life is lost, and it’s absolutely ridiculous.”
Thurmond said there had been previous calls to the family’s home for domestic disturbances.
Court records obtained by AL.com indicate that Montgomery was arrested last year following allegations that he punched the children’s mother in the head and shoulder. The charge was later dismissed for “want of prosecution” the news site reported.
© 2024 Cox Media Group
Sign Up
