Murder of Neveah Gallegos

Neveah Janey Gallegos was born August 1, 2004, and died September 21, 2007, in Denver, Colorado. On the day of her death, her mother, Miriam Gallegos, called 911 and reported that her daughter had been kidnapped from her arms, describing a supposed abductor and vehicle. When police entered the apartment to obtain a photograph of Neveah, they observed a paper towel with what appeared to be blood or another bodily fluid on it.

Later that day, Miriam Gallegos told police a different account: she had received a call at work from her boyfriend, Angel Ray Montoya, telling her to come home without explanation. When she arrived, she found Neveah not breathing and was unable to revive her. She said she and Montoya did not call for help but instead placed Neveah's body inside a white trash bag, then a black trash bag, and finally a duffel bag. She said the two left the building separately, with Montoya taking the duffel bag. She identified a photograph shown to her by police as Montoya.

Neveah's body was found on September 24, 2007, three days after she was reported missing, inside a white plastic trash bag under a tree stump in a ravine about two miles from the couple's apartment. She was still dressed in red sweatpants, a red shirt with a cartoon character, and pink tennis shoes. Cause of death was initially undetermined but was later ruled asphyxiation. A candlelight vigil was held on September 25, 2007, and a permanent memorial was dedicated on November 2, 2007.

Montoya had a prior criminal history, including a December 2000 charge of indecent exposure to minors, a 2003 charge for failing to register as a sex offender, and a 2005 case involving false imprisonment and child abuse that was pleaded down to misdemeanor child abuse, resulting in a suspended jail sentence and probation. He had also been investigated in July 2006 for alleged sexual assault involving Neveah, then 23 months old, but that case was dropped when Miriam Gallegos did not cooperate with detectives. Miriam Gallegos had a prior 2006 marijuana conviction.

After Neveah's death, Montoya was arrested for first-degree murder and Miriam Gallegos for accessory to murder, false reporting, and fatal child abuse, but both were released on October 1, 2007, without charges pending an autopsy. Montoya was rearrested in late October 2007 for failing to register as a sex offender and was reported in March 2008 to again be noncompliant and unaccounted for. Neveah's grandmother, Janet Gallegos, sought help from an attorney to pursue the case, which led to a grand jury indictment of both Montoya and Miriam Gallegos on April 22, 2009 (Gallegos was formally indicted May 6, 2009). Both pleaded not guilty on October 30, 2009. On January 6, 2011, Miriam Gallegos was sentenced to 12 years in prison and five years of parole for child abuse resulting in death. On May 15, 2012, Angel Montoya was sentenced to life in prison without parole for first-degree murder, child abuse resulting in death, and abuse of a corpse. Montoya's appeal of his murder conviction was upheld by the Colorado Court of Appeals on August 20, 2015.