Inset top: Michael Sanchez (Maricopa County Sheriff”s Office/KSAZ/YouTube). Inset bottom: Rylee Montgomery (GoFundMe). Background: The area of the shooting in Buckeye, Arizona (KSAZ/YouTube).
A man in Arizona fatally shot his pregnant girlfriend hours after he vowed to “get” her and then “take care of” himself, authorities say.
Michael Sanchez, 18, was arrested on Friday in the death of 16-year-old Rylee Montgomery, the Buckeye Police Department announced.
He has been charged with first-degree murder, endangerment, and interference with a monitor device, according to Phoenix CBS affiliate KPHO. The defendant being held in the Maricopa County jail without bond.
On Thursday night around 8:15 p.m., Montgomery, was with a 22-year-old woman and a 17-year-old girl — who was also pregnant, like Montgomery — and the trio were outside a home on Elwood Street in Buckeye, which is located just west of Phoenix.
Police said they were called to the area and found the three individuals “suffering from gunshot wounds.” Montgomery was pronounced dead at the scene, while the woman and other teen were “rushed to the hospital where they remain in critical condition” as of Friday.
The investigation was underway, and officers believe the victims were shot outside a residence. The police department said “two males were seen running from the scene before officers arrived,” and they noted that the “victims and suspect knew each other.”
Police identified Sanchez as their suspected shooter, though they made no mention of another “male.” Buckeye police tracked him to a home some 15 miles away in Avondale, where they arrested him.
Sanchez was “in a romantic relationship with Montgomery” that her family said was abusive.
“Our sweet girl fell victim to a controlling boy,” a GoFundMe set up for her states. “He started off very sweet and nice to her. Once he got her pregnant in February, it was all over.”
The person writing the fundraiser claims Sanchez told her to “kill the baby” but she refused, and “he turned his anger on her, threatening her numerous times” and allegedly choking her at the family’s house.
“When she broke up with him in March, he decided to point a gun at her face and told her she wasn’t allowed,” the GoFundMe goes on. “He would go through her phone and delete all her male contacts, even her family members. Just yesterday, he threatened her again.”
That threat reportedly came in the form of a picture, at least in part. Rylee’s stepmother, Amy Montgomery, told the local outlet that “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.'”
They called the police and told them about the alleged threat, “and that was the last I heard from her,” the stepmother said. “And then three hours later, she was gone.”
The GoFundMe suggests Sanchez committed the wicked crime “because she was with her friends,” adding, “He took it upon himself to travel over 20 miles to where she was and shoot them all.”
The other pregnant teen was “shot in the back and nearly bled out, forced to deliver her baby boy at 25 weeks,” which is less than six months. Amy Montgomery said Sanchez hated this friend because she tried to break them up.
“I think [the 22-year-old victim] was just in the wrong place at the wrong time,” the stepmother told KPHO. “But I definitely think he went there with full intention on killing both [the 17-year-old victim] and Rylee.”
“She was so scared of him, and we tried to get her help,” she added of her stepdaughter.
Sanchez was reportedly wearing an ankle monitor at the time of the shooting because, during a road rage incident in March, he allegedly fled from police and crashed his car.
Now, Rylee Montgomery’s family is forced to face a future without her.
“Our sweet Rylee. Our best girl. … The one who was excited to get her license next month and to get a job. The girl who was excited for her gender reveal, which would have told her she was gonna have a baby girl,” the GoFundMe states. “Michael stole our girl and granddaughter from us. He broke our hearts completely. He ripped our souls to shreds. He is a coward! And now we are left with trying to figure out where to lay our girls to rest.”
