MARION COUNTY, Ind. — Authorities in Monroe County arrested a man on charges of rape and furnishing alcohol to a minor after investigating the death of an Indiana University student earlier this month, the sheriff’s office announced Wednesday.
On the morning of August 17, deputies were called to an off-campus home in the 4100 block of Arlington Road, where they found 20-year-old IU student Avery McMillan unconscious and unresponsive. Deputies administered three doses of Narcan, but she did not survive.
Court documents state that she was found in the room of 33-year-old Eric Montgomery, who lived at the home owned by his parents. During conversations with detectives, Montgomery said he met McMillan earlier that morning and admitted to having sex with her in a city parking garage and at his home. Montgomery also told detectives that he and McMillan smoked marijuana and drank alcohol that he provided to her, per documents. A detective said he also told him McMillan was having trouble breathing.
The detective said Montgomery consented to a search of his vehicle — a beige 2010 Ford Crown Victoria that appeared to be a decommissioned police car — and two half-empty bottles of liquor were found.
That same day, the detective spoke with McMillan’s roommate, who said they went to a house party, and McMillan “got a little more drunk than she intended or wanted to,” court documents state. The roommate said while in a car after leaving the party, McMillan became “frazzled and aggressive” during their drive and got out of the car at the intersection of 10th Street and Indiana Avenue. She said she pleaded with McMillan to get back in the car, but McMillan cursed at her and continued walking without her phone, ID or keys at about 2 a.m., documents state.
The detective said in surveillance footage from McMillan’s apartment complex — located near 10th Street and College Avenue — McMillan is periodically seen between 2:19 a.m. and 4:02 a.m. She spent a “considerable amount of time” in the parking garage and elevator of her apartment building but was unable to get in without her key, documents say. The detective noted that she appeared “highly intoxicated” and often lost her balance.
Surveillance video also showed a beige Ford Crown Victoria with a driver’s side spotlight, similar to that of a police vehicle, enter the parking garage shortly before 5 a.m., per court documents. The vehicle remained in the garage for about 9 minutes before it exited. The detective said neither Montgomery nor McMillan can be seen outside the vehicle during that time.
The sheriff’s office said because of Montgomery’s “violent and extensive criminal history,” the Critical Incident Response Team helped take him into custody. Montgomery was arrested during a traffic stop without incident and booked into the Marion County Correctional Center.
