A 16-year-old pregnant girl and her unborn daughter were fatally shot Thursday night in Buckeye, leaving two other women seriously wounded, including another pregnant teenager who delivered her premature son while fighting for her life.
The shooting occurred around 8:15 p.m. outside a home in the Westpark neighborhood near Broadway Road and Miller Road. Buckeye police identified the victims as 16-year-old Rylee Montgomery, who died at the scene along with her unborn child, and two friends: a 17-year-old pregnant girl and a 22-year-old woman. Both survivors remain hospitalized in critical condition.
Pregnant Arizona Teen and Unborn Baby Killed in Buckeye Shooting; Suspect Arrested
Police arrested 18-year-old Michael Sanchez, Montgomery’s on-again, off-again boyfriend, early Friday morning at a residence near Dysart Road and MC-85. He faces two counts of first-degree murder, along with charges of endangerment and interference with a monitoring device. Sanchez is being held without bond in a Maricopa County jail.
Authorities said Sanchez was wearing an ankle monitor at the time of the shooting because of a March road-rage incident in which he fled police and crashed his vehicle. Montgomery’s family had contacted Buckeye and Avondale police multiple times in the weeks before the attack to report Sanchez’s threats against her.
“She was so scared of him, and we tried to get her help,” said Amy Montgomery, Rylee’s stepmother. “He sent her a picture of himself with a gun pointed at his head and a text telling her ‘I’m going to get you and then I’m going to take care of myself.’ So she called Avondale Police … and that was the last I heard from her. And then three hours later, she was gone.”
Montgomery, who was 14 weeks pregnant with a baby girl, had not yet learned the gender. The family had planned a reveal party for June 7.
“She sees the good in everybody and [has a] heart of gold,” Amy Montgomery said of her stepdaughter. “She loved animals, makeup and the beach.”
The 17-year-old victim gave birth Thursday night to a boy at 25 weeks gestation. The infant, weighing just one pound, is also fighting for his life. The 22-year-old victim was described by the family as being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Rylee Montgomery’s mother is separately recovering in a hospital after a car accident earlier this month in which a distracted driver, focused on the Hazen Fire, struck the family vehicle.
A GoFundMe page has been created to assist the Montgomery family with funeral and related expenses.
Buckeye police spokesperson Carissa Planalp said such incidents remain rare in the city. “We take every shots fired, every weapons offense … very seriously in hopes of preventing something like this,” she said. “So it’s tragic today that we have one loss of life and two individuals who might have a long road of recovery ahead of them.”