Denisha Montgomery Smith of Hodgenville, Kentucky, was raised in a military family. In January 2021, the 27-year-old joined the military not only as a family tradition but to take care of her three young boys.

Joshua Smith, Montgomery's widower, told WDRB-TV that Montgomery was "always a leader, always there for everybody ... She just wanted us to be proud of her. And we were absolutely proud of her, everything she did."

After Russia invaded Ukraine, Montgomery was deployed from Fort Stewart, Georgia, with the 139th Military Police Company to Europe. In May, she arrived in Wiesbaden, Germany. As much as she was committed to serving her country, she also looked forward to returning to her husband and kids at the end of September 2022.

“She had so much life to live for,” her sister, Sgt. Brooklyn Price, Montgomery’s sister and a logistics specialist with 5th Special Forces Group at Fort Campbell, Kentucky, said. “All she wanted to do was be an MP and serve her country.”

Her deployment was largely uneventful, until one July night. That’s when a visibly upset Montgomery called her family via video and told them to record their emotional conversation. Through tears, she told them that she had been attacked by three members of her own squad after a night on the town.

She said that she intended to file a report, but her first sergeant had been pressuring her to keep the incident under wraps.

On that July 19 video call, Montgomery showed her family injuries to her body – including bruises and wounds – that she said were caused by members of her own squad.

“She told us ‘Please record this. We might need this in case something happens,’” Price told Stars & Stripes, a military newspaper.

In the 12-minute video, Montgomery details how she and some members of her military police unit went offbase to a water park. They had been drinking. On the car ride back, she said, they assaulted her.

“I just want to come home. Look what they did to me,” Montgomery said in the video, showing her injuries on camera.

"They choked me out," Montgomery said at one point. "I kept telling them, 'I can't breathe.' I was like, 'I can't breathe!' I was gasping for air. I ain't never been so scared in my life. I legit thought I was going to die in the car."

In the shaky cell phone video, Montgomery also said that she felt she could no longer trust her superiors. It was time to go.

"I'm telling them that I don't want to be here no more," she said on the video call. "I'll do whatever I have to do, mom. I'm coming home. I can't be here no more. I don't trust them. I don't trust my leadership. I don't want to be here with none of them no more."

Days after the video call, text messages she sent to her uncle showed that Montgomery wanted to speak out about the assault, but was fearful of reprisal from Army higher ups. 

“They told me if I report an assault, I’ll be charged with assault too because I mushed (sic) the female and bit the male that was choking me … 1SG here told me self defense in the military isn’t a thing smh,” Montgomery wrote July 21, using the acronym for “shaking my head.”

On July 27, She wrote her uncle: “I’m sorry I’ve just been depressed and didn’t want to talk about it anymore I decided not to say anything I didn’t wanna end up getting in trouble too … . I’m okay my bruises are starting to go away I’ve just been keeping my head down staying in my room n going to work when I get back to Stewart I have another NCO who is going to get me in his squad so I don’t have to directly deal with those people.”

Three weeks later on August 9, 2022, Montgomery was found dead in Lucius Clay Barracks amid mysterious circumstances. The Army told her family that Montgomery had killed herself.

“They said, ‘We’re sorry to inform you that your daughter has committed suicide by suffocation.’ And I said, ‘How do you suffocate yourself? How can you possibly suffocate yourself?’ her mother Heather Montgomery told News Nation.

"We was like, 'Nah, that doesn't make any sense at all," Montgomery's aunt Tomeka Light, told WDRB-TV. "If you knew Denisha, there would be no question in your mind how strong of an individual she was. Mentally, physically, we knew that she was happy."

When asked about Montgomery’s death, the TV station received the following statement from Army Spokesman Lt. Col. Terence M. Kelley:

"The Army has not yet made a determination as to the cause or manner of death. At the time of Spc. Montgomery's death, German law enforcement authorities exercised primary jurisdiction. When the German authorities closed their investigation and transferred the matter to the U.S. Army CID, they stated that they had ruled SPC Montgomery's death to be a suicide."

Montgomery’s family has hired attorney Lindsey Knapp, the executive director of Combat Sexual Assault, to retrace the last weeks of Montgomery's life and find out the circumstances surrounding her death.

"The military's statements to the family are not adding up," Knapp told local media. "The first piece is they tell the family it was a suicide. Now, they're maybe trying to walk that back and say that they're investigating but then in the same breath putting out press releases where they're stating that there was no foul play. So none of that makes any sense to anyone."

Knapp is calling for the Federal Bureau of Investigations to take over the case. “Because what the military has shown us is that they are unable to take this case and give Denisha the justice that she deserves.”

On August 26, Montgomery’s body was transported to Elizabethtown, Kentucky, her hometown. She received a burial with military honors and was posthumously promoted to specialist.

The Army had promised the family a “comprehensive update” on the investigation into Montgomery’s death, but developments have been sluggish at best. Now the Army is saying that the death by suicide determination was made by the German authorities.

Military newspaper Stars and Stripes reports that the suicide determination was actually made by Air Force Col. Alice Briones, the director of the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System. He also conducted Montgomery’s autopsy, Army officials told the newspaper.

“How dare you allow my niece’s death to be in vain?” Tomeka Light, Montgomery’s aunt and also an Army veteran, told News Nation. “How dare you prematurely tell us that the strong, beautiful individual took her life?”

Price also believes strongly that Montgomery’s death was no suicide.

“Denisha would not have killed herself suddenly,” she was quoted as saying. “She was always so thought-out and planned. It’s just not like her to just to act on impulse.”

Montgomery’s sister, Jada, said the military initially let loose a startling revelation about what happened at the water park before the alleged assault in the car happened. 

“The [U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Division] told us on the phone that on that night at the water park, two individuals — that were not with her — tried to sexually assault her in a restroom. But [the Army] stated clearly that the people that were with her, they tried to chase them down and they were trying to help her,” Jada Montgomery told News Nation. 

Because of the Army’s stonewalling, Light said the family has had to take matters into their own hands.

“We have taken it upon ourselves to collect all evidence, to show that Denisha was not suicidal, to show that she was attacked and afraid for her life and to show that she was ready to come back home,” she said. 

For Light, Montgomery’s aunt, the Army’s behavior stings even more. She served 13 years in the armed forces and was awarded a purple heart for her service.

"I take this seriously because I sacrificed my life and I actually went to war and fought and got injured in combat," she told the TV station. "For my niece to be in a peace-time situation, no conflict at all and to lose her life ... yeah, you failed my niece, is what I feel. You failed her."

Price, Montgomery’s sister, said, “Just how she was willing to fight for us, the least we can do is fight for her.”