Memorial service slated for Mount Vernon community leader

The Mount Vernon neighborhood will hold a memorial service for a neighborhood community leader who died on Friday, after being critically wounded in a 2012 shooting outside a small inn and residence next to the Belvedere Hotel.

The community will hold a memorial service for Lawrence Peterson at 5 p.m on Sunday, May 18, in the West Square of Mount Vernon Place. It is the same venue where a vigil was held for Peterson when he was wounded after the shooting

Following the memorial service, the community will stage a block party to celebrate Peterson's life in the unit block of East Chase Street.

"He was single-handedly responsible for the renaissance of Mount Vernon," said Mount Vernon community leader Paul Warren about Peterson. "You always hear the saying if you want your neighbors to be good friends you make your good friends neighbors. He's brought many people in the neighborhood and city to live and share his passion for Mount Vernon."