31-year-old Megan Montgomery lived in Hoover, Alabama. Megan was passionate about animals, held a master’s degree, and was a gifted writer.
She had 2 cats that she adopted, Graylee and Maya, and she happily spent her free time volunteering with the Greater Birmingham Humane Society in hopes of being able to help more animals find loving homes.
Megan’s loved ones say she was a “light on earth” who had a “gentle and kind spirit.” And she was murdered a few months after she courageously left her abusive husband.
Facebook; pictured above is Megan
Megan met a man named Jason McIntosh on a dating app in 2017. He was a police officer who had worked for a few other local departments before being employed by the Hoover Police Department.
Megan and Jason both ended up swiping right, though it took Megan a few months to message back the police officer who was 14 years older than her.
Megan shared several photos on social media of her and Jason at the beach or headed out to get a bite to eat after they made their relationship official.
Then, on July 24th, 2018, Megan posted a photo of her in front of a sunset sky and Jason on one knee.
“I SAID YES!!!,” she excitedly explained in the caption. “I found a message in a bottle during our walk on the beach last night. It said “Marry Me?” Happiest girl in the world right now. I love you Jason…our forever starts now!”
Instagram; pictured above Jason proposes to Megan on the beach
Loved ones left comments congratulating the couple. Megan’s next post was a close-up of her sparkler.”
The night we got engaged, we celebrated later back at the beach condo, and I was being silly taking lots of shots of my ring,” she said. “I LOVE the look that I captured on Jason’s face in the background here!”
“You left out the best part of the picture! Your pretty face,” Jason added.
Instagram; pictured above Megan shows off her ring
Megan got married to Jason in February of 2019, in a beautiful New York City ceremony. They took photos on the steps of a subway station and in the middle of Times Square, with the bright lights of the big city providing a beautiful backdrop for their special day.
It looked like the start of a fairy tale, but their marriage would essentially be over less than a month later.
The man who beamed alongside Megan in a sharp-looking dark suit had a side to him that nobody could see that day.
Instagram; pictured above is the last photo Megan posted before being murdered
On February 23rd, 2019, police officers arrived at the home Megan and Jason shared on Village Center Street in Hoover.
There had been some kind of disagreement between Megan and Jason that ended with them fighting over a gun and Megan getting shot in her right arm.
When everything was said and done, Megan didn’t want to move forward with pressing charges against Jason. She did, however, decide to take out a restraining order against him and she also filed for divorce.
As for Jason, he resigned from the Hoover Police Department before they could finish up investigating what had happened at the couple’s home when Megan got shot. Not long after that, Jason was arrested again after he left marks all over Megan.
Instagram; pictured above is Megan with her cast on her arm after being shot
As the months went by, Megan documented her progress in physical therapy with her arm. She posted photos of her working out, enjoying time by the pool, and hanging out with her friends and family.
She adopted a new kitten named Maya, who was born the same week that Megan had been shot.
Instagram; pictured above is Megan with her new kitten
Megan also started becoming more vocal about domestic abuse and even shared a few screenshots of the unsettling texts Jason was sending her, despite her having left him.
Instagram; pictured above are 2 screenshots of texts from Jason that Megan shared
On December 1st, 2019, Megan went out that evening with a few new friends she had made. None of these people knew anything about what Megan had been through. Had they, perhaps things would have played out differently that night.
“None of us knew her well, or well enough to know her back story and that is the only thing that is making it possible to cope with the story that I’m about to tell,” Brad Norred, a man who was out with Megan that fateful night, later admitted.
“6 of us, including her were at a table when the man walked up. He placed a hand on the back of her neck and one on her shoulder, and told her to walk outside,” Brad continued.
“We all looked at him, asked who he was and he said “that’s my wife she’s going with me.” Megan said yes and agreed, but the look in her eyes is one I will never forget.”
“She was terrified, but my assumption was she has just been caught doing something behind her husbands back, not that she was scared for her life.”
Instagram; Megan smiles in the photo above
“Honestly who is gonna question a man saying it’s his wife, once she agreed? I didn’t know she had a restraining order, or was going through a divorce, none of it. I watched her walk away, terrified, and knew nothing.”
“None of us did, but we were the last group of people to see her alive. I don’t blame myself, but I am sitting here wondering what I could have done different, if anything? Or why didn’t she tell us, or stand up to him knowing there was so many of us to take care of her?”
“Was she protecting us knowing he had made threats of mass violence before? He had the gun on him, maybe she saved our lives had we tried to stop him from taking her away from our friend group.”
“I’ll never know, nobody will, but that question will never go away. I knew her for not even 12 hours but every article I’ve read about how nice, selfless, and genuine she is is accurate.”
Facebook; pictured above is what Brad later recounted about that night Megan was last seen alive
After Megan left with Jason, he drove her to a parking lot, where he shot in her back and head, killing her. The following day, Jason turned himself in a little after noon.
Two days later, the Mountain Brook Police Department announced Jason had been charged with Megan’s murder.
Jason ultimately accepted a plea deal, and he was sentenced to 30 years behind bars this past week.
Megan’s family has created a fund in her name, which provides nonprofit grants in order to educate college and high school students about recognizing and stopping domestic violence.
Instagram; Megan sits with a smile on her face in the photo above
