INDIANAPOLIS – Kayla Bowling confided in her mother that she feared her ex-boyfriend would kill her.
Those fears came to fruition on June 1 in the 3000 block of S. Rural Street, when police say 27-year-old Kyle Rigdon hit her with his car, killing her. Bowling, 29, was on her bike at the time. Rigdon left the scene, police said. He’s now charged with murder.
According to court documents, Bowling received a Facebook message from Rigdon the night before her death that said, “Have fun with [whatever] you got going on tonight. Tomorrow will be the biggest wakeup call of your life.”
Officers responded to the incident around 11 a.m. on June 1. Bowling was taken to Eskenazi Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 11:45 a.m.
She had provided a neighbor with the car’s license plate number before she died.
Another neighbor told police he’d seen Bowling on her bike on the day before she was killed. A silver car had blocked her in; a man was yelling at her, the neighbor said. Rigdon drove a silver Nissan Altima, according to investigators.
Bowling’s parents told responding officers that Rigdon had stalked and harassed their daughter. He’d slashed her tires days before, they said, according to court documents.
During an interview with Bowling’s parents, police learned Bowling and Rigdon had been dating, off and on, for about six months. They’d broken up a month ago. Their daughter was “terrified” of Rigdon, who always “seemed to know where she was at all times.”
Sometimes, Rigdon would text her and ask why she was at a certain location—and Bowling didn’t think he could possibly know where she was unless he was following her.
Bowling’s parents recounted how Rigdon had parked in front of their home, gotten out of the car with a butcher’s knife and slashed her tires. A police report indicated it happened on May 26. Rigdon continued to drive by the home several times that day, her parents said. Bowling’s father was so worried that day, he’d run into the home to get a gun for his family’s protection.
On May 31, the day before her death, Bowling got into a screaming match with Rigdon on her phone, her parents said. She told him to “stay away” and that their relationship “was over.” Around 11:30 p.m., Rigdon knocked on her window; she told him to leave or she’d call the police.
Bowling’s mother told police she found Rigdon to be controlling. She was aware of domestic issues and fights between the two and said Bowling had confided in her “several times” that Rigdon was going to kill her.
Less than 24 hours before Bowling’s death, Rigdon put out a Facebook post saying something to the effect that someone had broken his heart and would pay. By June 2, however, Rigdon had deleted the post, police said.
The mother of Rigdon’s child called police after Rigdon contacted her wanting to see his child. The woman described Rigdon as “unusually quiet and affectionate” with his son and told police he’d “uncharacteristically” given the boy $100 before leaving. He didn’t mention anything about Bowling, according to court documents.
When Rigdon showed up for work on June 1, he told his employer he’d hurt his girlfriend and asked his colleague to say he’d been at work since 10 a.m. He hadn’t shown up at the jobsite until 12 p.m. that day. Once his employer learned about Bowling’s death, he called police. The employer shared text messages in which Rigdon had asked him to tell his attorneys he’d been at work at 10 a.m. on June 1.
Officers and detectives found Rigdon’s silver Nissan Altima in the 4100 block of W. Michigan St. and followed him onto I-65 southbound, where they took him into custody. The car was towed for later examination. Once police got a look at the vehicle, they noticed fresh damage on the front left bumper. The undercarriage had grass and dirt on it, police said.
