5-year-old Bangor girl found dead> Mother is jailed, charged with murder

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A 5-year-old Bangor girl, who neighbors say was kept isolated by her mother, was found dead on Monday and her mother was in jail charged with her murder.

Police were notified of the death at 8:10 a.m. when the mother, Tonia Kigas, 28, called 911 and told the dispatcher her daughter was dead.

Kigas was scheduled to appear in 3rd District Court in Bangor Tuesday morning. On Monday, police were not releasing the cause of death, but said an autopsy was to be performed Tuesday morning.

The death sent a shockwave through the Capehart area as neighbors gathered outside the family’s home to watch while police searched the apartment at 55 Moosehead Boulevard.

Tavielle Kigas’ body was not removed from the apartment until 4:30 p.m.

Bangor Police Detective Sgt. Roy McKinney declined to comment on whether a murder weapon was found at the Kigas’ residence, or in what condition the apartment was found by investigators.

Kinney also wouldn’t comment on what the woman said when she called the emergency number or on “any statement she may or may not have said.”

Tavielle had been in kindergarten at the Downeast School, but her mother had removed her from the school a few weeks ago.

Dorothy Pratt, Downeast Elementary School principal, called the child’s death “a great tragedy, and we’re all shocked, absolutely shocked.”

Pratt said that Tavielle had been out of school for about one month.

“As far as we knew, she had moved,” said the principal, adding that she had spoken to the child’s mother about Tavielle’s absence from school.

Tavielle was pulled from school at about the same time that Kigas’ neighbors began noticing that her mail was piling up. They said there had been few signs of life around the apartment for the past three weeks.

One neighbor said she noticed a light on in the family’s kitchen Sunday night for the first time in a couple of weeks.

A cab driver said he picked Kigas up at Capehart Variety Store at about 6 p.m. Sunday, took her to Doug’s Shop ‘n Save at the Airport Mall where she cashed a check. Then he dropped her off in front of her apartment.

A neighbor who saw Kigas leave the cab said Tavielle was not with her.

Debbie Taylor lives on Dirigo Drive and remembers seeing Tavielle and her mother on the city bus on several occasions.

“She (Tavielle) stood out because she was always so chatty and giggly. She’d talk and talk and talk. She always seemed to be happy,” said Taylor.

But most neighbors painted a picture of a little girl who was not allowed to play with other children; a child who spent most of her days looking out of her bedroom window trying to communicate the best she could with neighborhood children.

“She’d mouth words to us and she’d hold up a doll and our daughter would hold up her doll. She always waved and grinned at us from that window,” said one neighbor who did not want to be identified.

Teresa Lewis said she once convinced Kigas to allow Tavielle to attend a birthday party for Lewis’ daughter. She made other attempts to socialize with Kigas and her daughter, but Lewis said Kigas would not allow Tavielle to play with other children.

“She was very protective of her,” Lewis said.

Millie Young visited with Kigas once in awhile, but said Kigas would not allow Tavielle to play with Young’s grandchildren because she thought they played too rough.

“She was a cute little thing, but she led an awful life,” said neighbor Murial Trask.

Neighbors said Kigas was from the South and moved to Bangor because her husband, Todd D. Kigas, was from this area. Court records show that Tonia L. Kigas of Bangor was married to Todd D. Kigas, residence unknown, on July 16, 1986, in Bamberg, S.C.

The couple was divorced in August of this year, and Tonia Kigas was awarded custody of Tavielle.

Neighbors say that Kigas’ husband never lived at the apartment.

“No one really ever came around there. She kept to herself,” said Trask.

The neighbors who lived on both sides of Kigas had had their share of problems with her. One neighbor said he called 911 last winter when he saw Kigas leave the house without her daughter. He saw Tavielle in the window and knew she had been left alone. Police arrived and spoke to Kigas when she returned about half an hour later, the neighbor said.

He said the police officer told him that he would report the incident to the Department of Human Services.

“I don’t think anything was ever done about it though,” the neighbor said.

Police also were notified last fall when Kigas allegedly assaulted another neighbor. The woman filed a complaint, but said she never heard back from the police and did not know what happened to the case.

The same neighbor said, “For whatever reasons the kid was never allowed to play. She never had a pair of shorts on or went swimming in the summer. I saw her (Kigas) play with her one time. She threw a Frisbee at her and Tavi chased it and threw it back. Tonia grabbed the Frisbee and made Tavi go inside because she said she couldn’t throw it right. Boy what was going on inside that house, nobody knows.”