A pregnant teenager who refused her boyfriend's demands to have an abortion was shot to death, along with her preborn baby, in a brutal attack that left two other people also shot.

One was another pregnant teenager who survived, but had to deliver her baby boy at 25 weeks as a result. He did not survive.

Key Takeaways:

• 16-year-old Rylee Montgomery was dating 18-year-old Michael Sanchez when she got pregnant.

• According to Montgomery's family, he demanded she have an abortion, but she refused, and was committed to raising her child.

• Sanchez made repeated threats against Montgomery, though police took no meaningful action.

• Montgomery was shot, along with a pregnant 17-year-old and a 22-year-old woman. Montgomery died of her injuries, while the other two survived, though the 17-year-old was forced to deliver her baby early at 25 weeks. The baby boy, Timothy, did not survive.

• Sanchez has been arrested and charged with murder.

The Details:

Montgomery and her preborn daughter were killed in May, with Sanchez arrested and charged with their murder. According to Montgomery's family, he had been making repeated threats toward her, which began when she got pregnant.

Amy Montgomery, her stepmother, told AZCentral that 18-year-old Sanchez at first appeared to be a nice guy when the couple began dating last year. "I thought, 'This is a good match for Rylee,'" she said. "She seemed really happy with him."

Then, in February, Montgomery found out she was pregnant, and initially, she was terrified of how her parents would react, thinking they would be angry.

"We're disappointed in your choices, but we don't hate you. We love you. We'll do everything we can to support you and the baby," Amy Montgomery said of her reaction. "She didn't want to have an abortion. She said, 'I'm going to keep my baby.' He had other plans for her."

Sanchez, however, was allegedly furious, and demanded that Montgomery have an abortion.

"He was just psychotic," Amy recalled. "First thing he told her was 'You're gonna (expletive) kill it and she says, 'No, I am not.'"

An abusive situation

From there, her family said he turned violent, even allegedly choking her at their house. According to a now-deleted GoFundMe, Montgomery broke up with him in March. After that, he allegedly decided to kill not only Montgomery, but several of her friends, including a 17-year-old who was also pregnant.

Montgomery's family said the 17-year-old, Abby Krebs, had tried to help Montgomery escape the abusive relationship with Sanchez.

Amy said Montgomery had vowed to escape from Sanchez and raise her child, but despite repeatedly asking for protection from police, she was left to fend for herself. "[W]e tried to get her out, and (police) told me to get a restraining order. That's a paper. Go get him," she said.

Police, meanwhile, admitted that there had been a complaint filed from Montgomery, alleging Sanchez pointed a gun at her. They did nothing because they claimed there was not enough evidence to arrest him.

The Montgomery family said they had pages of text messages which showed Sanchez repeatedly threatening Montgomery, yet all police would recommend is an order of protection.

Previous arrests

He had also previously been arrested for other crimes, including a DUI, and was wearing an ankle monitor. “He never had restrictions. He never had to call his parole officer," Amy explained. "We were bringing Rylee to a doctors appointment, and I said, 'don’t you have to tell them? He said no, I do what I want.'”

The day of the shooting, Montgomery received a text message from Sanchez which included a photo of him holding a gun, which the family reported to police.

"We'll look it up and add it to the report," Amy said of the police response.

What Happened Next:

Within hours, Sanchez allegedly found Montgomery at a friend's house, where he shot and killed her.

He also shot Krebs and a 22-year-old woman, Myah Hembree. Both survived, though Krebs was forced to deliver her baby at 25 weeks.

Tragically, her baby boy, who she named Timothy Rylee after her best friend, did not survive.

He was buried with Montgomery and her preborn daughter, who was named Erica.

“We were getting ready to plan the baby shower and instead now we have to plan a funeral,” Krebs said. “I miss him a lot. It’s honestly hard to talk about."

She added that they had been at Krebs' home, thinking Montgomery would be safe there. Krebs recalled:

“It happened because she told him that she wanted to leave him. And we thought that because she was at my house, she would be safe because we thought he didn’t know where I lived.

And he ended up showing up at my house because of Life 360. Even though her location had been off earlier in the day."

Immediately after the shooting, Krebs and Hembree identified Sanchez as the shooter:

"I heard the gunshot go off and I just saw my best friend fall to the floor immediately. And in that moment, I kind of knew she was gone, but I didn’t want to believe it. And then he shot at me and Myah while we were running away and he shot me from behind and I fell and then I tried to get up again and I fell again and I crawled into the rocks by my house.

I’m angry that he took my baby and my best friend from me. And I’m angry that he injured one of my other best friends."

Hembree is still in the hospital, and only recently was able to come off the ventilator.

The Bottom Line:

Sanchez has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, endangerment and interference with a monitor device.

It's not clear if his charges will be adjusted after baby Timothy's death; police recommended an additional murder charge. For now, the family is focused on honoring Montgomery's memory and finding justice.

“Rylee’s in the clouds with the angels,” Amy said at a memorial service. “And I know baby Erica’s with her. She’s still in her little womb. Just as good a mom in heaven as she would have been on Earth. And she’ll watch Timothy until Abby gets to go home too. We have to have something good come out of this tragedy. We lost two babies and we lost our Rylee. We almost lost Abby. We cannot, cannot lose Myah."