WATERVILLE, Maine — "Melissa was a mom before she was anything else," said Meghan Legasse through tears Friday morning as she arrived at the home of her best friend Melissa Sousa.
The body of Sousa, 29, was found at her Gold Street home on Wednesday afternoon, the home she shared with her boyfriend Nicholas Lovejoy and their twin daughters.
Police are charging Lovejoy with her murder.
Friends of Sousa long feared she was a victim of domestic violence. Friends and family are holding a vigil at her home in Waterville starting at 10 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 25.
"Melissa was scared. That's why she stayed ... she was scared to go to law enforcement," aunts of Sousa told reporters Friday morning and friends and community members brought purple flowers to the home where Sousa was raising her twin daughters.
Legasse worked with Sousa at Dunkin Donuts in Waterville for several years.
"Anything to bring light to the house that a beautiful soul lived there, not just a monster," Legasse said the flowers, purple for domestic violence awareness, people were bringing to the home Friday were to bring light to a dark place.
Sousa's twin girls are currently in state care.
A GoFundMe site has been set up to help Sousa's mother pay for the cost of her daughter's funeral.
Another vigil will be held at the Waterville Dunkin Donuts on Main Street where Sousa had worked for several years on Nov. 2. Legasse says Sousa felt more at home at her work that at her actual house most of the time.
State police have charged Lovejoy with Sousa's murder. Lovejoy is being held at Kennebec County Jail and is scheduled to appear in court on Friday at 3 p.m.
Sousa hadn't been seen since Tuesday morning, Oct. 22, when she was last seen putting her girls on the school bus near her home. Police arrested Lovejoy by midnight on Tuesday when the found him driving in Waterville with a loaded rifle and had left his girls home alone.
