TAMPA — Before Angelia Mangum and a friend went to Jacksonville to be exotic dancers, before their bloody, bound bodies were found on the side of the road on Thursday, Mangum was an impish kid with a beautiful voice living at the Children’s Home in Tampa.
That’s how Mikayla Green remembers her.
About seven years ago, Green had just arrived at The Children’s Home in Tampa, a group home for children from broken families. Even though Mangum was younger, she welcomed Green and made her feel comfortable in her new environment, Green said.
“She was an all around nice person,” said Green, now 21, of Tampa. “I never saw her stress about anything.”
The news of Mangum’s death shocked Green and other friends who knew her.
“It’s awful,” Green said. “It’s inhumane. No one deserves that, especially her. I can’t imagine her not being alive.”
Mangum, 19, and a friend, Tjhisha Monique Ball, 18, were found dead Thursday morning along a Jacksonville Road. A witness told a reporter that they were found hog-tied and in a pool of blood.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office confirmed their deaths but hasn’t released a cause of death. No suspect had been arrested as of Friday night.
Mangum and Ball grew up in Tampa and met as teenagers. About two years ago, they began spending time in Jacksonville, where they performed in exotic dance clubs.
Green remembered Mangum as a young teenager who had flawless skin, a beautiful singing voice and performed on the step team at The Children’s Home. She was always friendly and when someone at the Children’s Home had trouble, she would lend an ear and dispense warm, mature advice, Green said.
Even though Mangum had been placed in The Children’s Home, she didn’t dwell on her past and was always upbeat and optimistic, Green said.
Mangum left The Children’s Home in 2008 or 2009 and was placed in a group home in Temple Terrace, Green said. Over the years, they kept in touch through Facebook but eventually lost touch, Green said.
Krystina Keaton also met Mangum at The Children’s Home in Tampa. She rememers Mangum for her infectious laugh and energy.
“She had a spontaneous laugh that would echo throughout the hallway,” Keaton said. “She had so much potential. She was so smart.”
She was also a prankster who would hide to scare someone, Keaton said.
“She was an amazing person,” Keaton said. “No one else like her.”
Keaton wants to see justice in the case.
“They need to get on who did that,” Keaton said. “You left her with nothing. No type of dignity. You have to be really sick to do that to somebody. It used to be a world where you could trust people,” Keaton said. “But now it’s not.”
Crystal Moore, the sister of Tjhisha Monique Ball, said a funeral service for Ball is scheduled for 11 a.m. Sept. 27 at World Alive Ministries, located at 302 East Memorial Blvd., Lakeland. The family was contacting Mangum’s family to hold the funeral service for both women together.
Ball’s family is also holding a candlelight vigil at 6 p.m. today at the College Park Apartments at North 15th Street and Fowler Avenue, where Ball grew up.
Moore said she last spoke to her sister on Sunday or Monday. She had plans to come down and visit, she said. She hopes the case is solved soon.
“We have to come together to find out who this person or person is,” Moore said.
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