Community reeling from student’s death

The close-knit community on Middle Street in Orono has been shaken by the death of University of Maine student Jordyn Bakley that occurred right outside their doors. Bakley was killed Jan. 30 in an apparent hit-and-run.

“We think about it all the time,” said one Middle Street resident, who asked to have her name withheld. “We all feel so bad. I wish there was something we could do.”

Middle Street, a two-block stretch of road tucked behind the restaurants and bars of downtown Orono, is a fairly active place. Residents walk with spouses, friends and dogs for exercise and pleasure. People are often outside shoveling snow and socializing with each other.

“College students walk up and down all the time,” said Mary Drew, a resident of Middle Street for 15 years. “We all walk in the road because the snow plows cover the sidewalks [in the winter]. The snow banks can be like mountains.”

Students live in a cluster of apartment buildings at the end of Middle Street, farther down than most of the residents. From there, many students walk back and forth from their homes to restaurants, bars or the bus stop.

Despite heavy pedestrian traffic, residents report that vehicles speed through the neighborhood often. “I have definitely seen cars come up and down this road faster than I’d like,” said Tanner Kelleter, who rents out a house across from the accident site but also lives in Bangor part-time.

“There are students who zoom down,” Drew said. “I almost got hit the other day.”

Adding to the danger for pedestrians is the lack of light on Middle Street. The road is eerie at night. A lone streetlamp, about halfway down, illuminates a small portion, while the rest of the street is shrouded in darkness, punctuated occasionally by a house’s porch lamp.

“There needs to be more light on this street,” said Drew, a dance teacher in Orono who plans to petition the Town Council for more streetlamps.

Residents did not recall hearing or seeing anything unusual the night of Bakley’s death. A resident who lives next to the accident site speculated that the snow on the streets and yards may have muffled the sounds of the accident.

“I can’t believe we didn’t hear anything. We were sleeping right there,” she said, pointing to her bedroom window, which overlooks the street.

She said she often hears car tires screeching and people walking by singing or yelling on Friday and Saturday nights. “It happens all the time,” she said. “You kind of tune it out.”

“I didn’t hear anything, but I wish I had,” said another resident who lives across the street. Other residents expressed similar anguish at having slept through the accident and not being able to contribute more to the Orono Police Department’s ongoing investigation.

“We’re heartsick,” Drew said.

The morning Bakley’s body was discovered, residents living in the houses that surround the accident site were awake and preparing for work before the first ambulance arrived around 5:40 a.m. with lights and siren off.

Residents reported initial confusion and horror as they slowly began to realize what had happened. Drew, whose husband had seen the victim’s body, was one of the first to realize that a death had occurred. She immediately called her neighbor who has a 17-year-old daughter and proceeded to alert several other residents of the tragedy as well.

In one case, residents were ordered by police not to leave their house because of its proximity to the crime scene. Others reported being turned away by officers for trying to see what had happened.

“They had sectioned off the street with fire trucks by 6:00 [a.m.],” said Drew. “I stood at the window watching for hours. It was like a crime show.”

Residents said the police marked every tread, footprint and even paw print in the snow as possible evidence, and they checked the tires and vehicles in every driveway on Middle Street.

The police were “very thorough. They were out in the freezing cold for over four hours,” said one resident. Another resident brought coffee to the officers throughout their investigation.

“I really appreciated the care and respect that they [the police] showed the remains,” Drew said through tears. “If that had been my daughter, I would have appreciated it.”

Drew said residents are praying that whoever committed the crime is found. “We have every faith in the police department,” she said. “We watched their efforts.”

Another resident, who has lived on Middle Street for over 25 years, had similar sentiments. “I want them caught and treated the way they need to be treated so the family can have closure,” he said. “Nothing like this has ever transpired on this street before.”

CORRECTION:
An earlier version of this article misspelled Jordyn Bakley as Jordan Bakley.

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This entry was posted on Thursday, February 11th, 2010, 3:32 am. You can follow any responses to this article through the RSS feed.