Gregory Groom, 23, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in Bristol County court as part of a plea agreement that downgraded the original first-degree murder charge. He will be eligible for parole after serving 25 years. He received an additional three to five years on a witness intimidation charge.

Monteiro, a recent Attleboro High School graduate who was 11 weeks pregnant, was last seen on Aug. 7, 2025, at Groom's home on County Street. Groom called police the following day to report her missing, telling officers the two had argued and she left on foot down the driveway.

But prosecutors said Monteiro's sister provided a far different account. The sister told investigators she had been texting Monteiro on Aug. 6 and received a message saying Groom had thrown her to the ground, pulled her hair and strangled her. "My phone is at 4% and if I die, it was Greg," the message read, according to prosecutors. The sister later received a reply from Monteiro's phone saying she planned to stay at Groom's house.

After days passed without contact, police brought Groom in for questioning. He eventually admitted to an altercation in which he pushed Monteiro, causing her to fall and hit her head, and knocked her phone from her hand when she tried to call for help. As investigators prepared to search his 25-acre property with cadaver dogs and an excavator, Groom drew a map and described stabbing Monteiro twice in the neck and once in the chest, with the blade breaking off in her chest. He said he spent hours digging a hole in the woods about 20 yards from the killing and pushed her body into it overnight.

Police later found blood and other evidence beneath a pile of brush near a shed on the property, and a 5-foot-deep hole containing Monteiro's remains under another brush pile nearby. Groom was arrested in late August 2025 and had been held without bail since.

The case has drawn attention to the warning signs of domestic violence and the importance of taking victims' messages seriously. Monteiro's family had grown alarmed when she stopped responding, prompting the search that ultimately led to the discovery of her body.

Resources for people experiencing domestic violence are available through the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233), online at www.thehotline.org, or by texting LOVEIS to 22522.