Michelle Montgomery, East Williamsburg, Brooklyn mom found dismembered in trash at Borinquen Plaza plaza determined to be accidentally dismembered falling through chute trying to retrieve purse which had fallen down garbage chute. No foul play. Mom had been partying hours earlier.
The body parts of a woman found cut up and stuffed in a garbage bag earlier this month, and initially viewed the result of a homicide has been determined to have died the result of a grisly accident, NYPD officials said Friday.
The remains of Michelle Montgomery, a Brooklyn mom of four were found by NYCHA workers cleaning out the trash compactor room at Borinquen Plaza on Bushwick Ave. near Seigel St. in East Williamsburg at about 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 1, NYPD Chief of Detectives Joseph Kenny told reporters.
On the morning of the macabre discovery, NYCHA workers in the lower level found a bag suspiciously heavy, so they opened it and looked inside — that is when they found Montgomery’s body in pieces.
Brooklyn mom accidentally killed falling down trash chute trying to retrieve purse
Authorities say Montgomery (going by the name of Petty Chelly on social media) was out drinking before 9:30 p.m. on Saturday, and was on seen on video entering the complex alone at around 1:39 a.m. on Sunday. She had no obvious connection to that building, EyewitnessNY reported.
While the 39-year-old mom’s death was first investigated as a homicide, detectives eventually determined that the mother of four fell into the compactor in an attempt to retrieve something that fell into a trash chute and ending up in the basement compactor.
‘Our theory right now is that she may have dropped an item into the chute and went to retrieve it,’ Kenny said. ‘She fell head-first into the chute and ended up in the chute room, two floors down, and was processed through.’
Detectives believe Montgomery was crushed to death by the compactor, Kenny said.
‘As of right now, the autopsy indicates that this was accidental,’ he said. ‘There are no indications that it was a homicide. She has no defensive wounds whatsoever and multiple witnesses say they heard screaming from inside the compactor.’
Brooklyn mom had gone out drinking hours earlier
The night of her death, Montgomery celebrated with her cousin and three friends and had posted video of herself twerking shortly after 11 p.m. inside of Mama Taco, located on Flushing Ave., about a 10-minute walk from where her remains were found.
It was still not clear how the victim, who lived in another NYCHA complex, ended up at Borinquen Plaza.
Hours later, NYCHA workers found her remains in the locked compactor room. They also found her purse with two forms of identification, Kenny said.
‘We believe she was trying to get her purse,’ Kenny said.
The compactor automatically bags whatever is crushed, Kenny said.
‘The remains were found inside of a black garbage bag that had been already processed the garbage,’ he said. ‘So whatever garbage that was in there had already gone through the compactor machine.’
Brooklyn mom remembered following trash chute accident
An autopsy determined that Montgomery died from horrific injuries while in the compactor, including deep slashes across her body, multiple puncture wounds and broken bones, including her rib cage.
Montgomery had two sons one 19 the other just 10 months old, and two daughters, ages 12 and 11. She lived at the Gowanus Houses nearly four miles from where her body was found.
She worked for Amazon and was making Valentine baskets, Easter baskets as a side hustle according to a neighbor who knew the victim.
‘Everybody is in shock,’ her husband, 37-year-old Anthony Echevarria, told the Daily News shortly after her death. ‘Things are running through my head like a broken record. We’ve been holding each other ever since (we found out).’
News of the tragedy also rattled neighbors in the building where Montgomery’s body was found.
‘It was scary to go downstairs — you just can’t believe something like that happened in your building,’ Rebecca Davila, 57, told the Daily News. ‘In the 15 years I lived here, I never seen anything like that.’
