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Update on the Florida stepfather who beat a boy to death for sneaking to get a cookie

Two of Jack Montgomery’s stepsons told police their 6-foot-2, 270-pound stepfather gave their 6-year-old brother, Brice Russell, a beating that included grabbing a leg and slinging Brice so that his head smacked a high shelf or cabinet in their Tampa area hotel room.

Brice never woke up after that Dec. 30, 2017 battering at the Tampa East/Seffner Masters Inn. Montgomery told investigators he’d merely thrown Brice on the bed after the boy sneaked out of bed for a cookie.

The Miami Herald wrote about Brice’s death and Montgomery’s arrest in a January 2018 story (the story incorrectly listed Brice’s age as 7).

Here’s what happened afterwards.

Montgomery pleaded guilty on Oct. 31, 2019 to second-degree murder, aggravated child abuse and willful child abuse. He received 35 years on the murder charge, 30 years on the aggravated child abuse charge and five years on the willful child abuse charge. The sentences will be served at the same time.

Montgomery’s online Florida Department of Corrections entry says his scheduled release date is June 26, 2052. His total time behind bars, including county jail time, for killing Brice would be 35 years, five months and 26 days. He’ll be 65 years old.

Jack Montgomery
Jack Montgomery