By DAMIEN FISHER, InDepthNH.org
Five years after she died in a Massachusetts hospital, authorities said four-month-old Luna L. Champagne of Nashua died as a result of a homicide.
Michael Garrity, director of communications for the New Hampshire Department of Justice, issued a statement Tuesday that the infant died as a result of traumatic head injuries. He said Tuesday that the announcement comes five years later as authorities are asking the public for help.
“Without commenting specifically on this case, it is not uncommon for there to be delays in autopsy reports when victims die in other states and the autopsy is performed there,” Garrity said. “Other factors that can add to the delay include COVID, the complexity of the case, the necessity of obtaining records, and the need to conduct additional testing. The decision to announce the autopsy results now was made based on the investigatory posture of the case.”
Luna Champagne was taken from her parents’ home at 79 Elm St., Apartment #2, in Nashua to a local hospital in medical distress on Feb. 16, 2017. She was later transported to a hospital in Massachusetts and died on February 19, 2017.
The Massachusetts Office of the Chief Medical Examiner conducted an autopsy on Luna Champagne on February 23, 2017. The complete autopsy report was received by New Hampshire authorities in 2021, and revealed that Luna’s cause of death was traumatic head injuries, and her manner of death is homicide, according to Garrity’s statement.
The exact circumstances surrounding Luna Champagne’s death remain under investigation and now Nashua police are asking members of the public to call in with any information about Luna’s death, or who interacted with her when she was alive is asked to call the Nashua Police Crimeline at (603) 589-1665.
Unrelated Child Cases
The delayed autopsy of an infant killed in a homicide comes at a time that New Hampshire’s Division for Children, Youth and Families is again the center of negative attention.
On Tuesday, Adam Montgomeny, 32, Manchester, was charged with new firearms offenses. Montgomery’s daughter, Harmony Montgomery, has been missing for two years. The family was investigated for suspected abuse and neglect before the girl was last seen at age 5.
Harmony was living with her father Adam Montgomery and stepmother, Kayla Montgomery, with two half-siblings in Manchester when the anonymous caller reported seeing Harmony a week earlier with a black eye.
Kayla Montgomery has been charged with welfare fraud for collecting benefits for Harmony when she was no longer living with the family.
The body of 5-year-old Merrimack boy Elijah Lewis was found in Massachusetts a month after he had reportedly gone missing in October of 2021.
The Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Massachusetts determined the cause of Elijah’s death was violence and neglect, including facial and scalp injuries, acute fentanyl intoxication, malnourishment and pressure ulcers.
Elijah’s mother, Danielle Denise Dauphinais, 35, and her boyfriend, Joseph Stapf, 30, remain held without bail on charges of Witness Tampering and Child Endangerment.