Slain counselor remembered as a generous helper

A Philadelphia School District counselor was about to get his M.B.A. and had just received a promotion at his job when he was shot dead, execution style, on Saturday in front of his Yeadon, Delaware County, home.

School officials were in shock yesterday after learning Veno Leigertwood, 31, had been shot shortly after 6:30 a.m. as he packed up his car to attend his last day of graduate school at Eastern University.

An autopsy report released last night by the Delaware County Medical Examiner's Office said he died of a single gunshot wound to the neck.

Leigertwood's wife, Raven, and 7-month-old daughter, Nichole, were sleeping inside at the time.

"I'm sure there are hundreds of students at Bartram High School who would not have made it to college without his help," said Donna Frisby-Greenwood, director of college and career awareness in the GEAR UP Program.

GEAR UP, or Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate Programs, takes low-income seventh graders, guides them through their senior year in high school, and helps them get into colleges. Students receive academic support including summer programs, mentoring, and exposure to the college recruitment process.

Leigertwood was a counselor who worked with GEAR UP students in the Southwest Philadelphia region. Frisby-Greenwood said his first students, whom he had guided since seventh grade, graduated in May and were now entering college.

"He was a very conscientious young man," Frisby-Greenwood said. "He was very helpful and willing to volunteer and to offer advice. It's a big loss for our office."

This month, Leigertwood had been named managing coordinator of the program and would have been in charge of the other counselors.

Leigertwood, whose mother is a Philadelphia police dispatcher at the Roundhouse, also had a real estate business buying and renting apartments in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, said a close friend, Jonathan Coleman.

Coleman said Leigertwood had no enemies. "He was the kind of person who on his way to work would listen to tapes about positive reinforcement and having the right attitude," Coleman said. The two men met at the Pennsylvania State University, where Leigertwood graduated with a degree in psychology.

"He could have made more money as an entrepreneur, but he still wanted to have an impact on students," Coleman said.

"We both grew up in not-so-great neighborhoods, and he wanted to spend his life getting students on the right track," Coleman said. Leigertwood was raised in West Philadelphia, and Coleman lived in the Southwest section.

Yeadon police did not return calls yesterday.

Leigertwood was loading a laptop computer and speakers into his car when he apparently was approached from behind and shot, the family told Coleman. A neighbor discovered him lying next to his car and alerted police.

Coleman said Leigertwood's cell phone was the only item stolen.

Leigertwood was planning to give a presentation to his class on refurbishing buildings on what would have been his last day of class. He was expecting to receive his degree in December. Leigertwood would have worked out of the central administrative office in his new management job.

This school year, about 1,700 Philadelphia students will participate in GEAR UP through a six-year, $18 million grant to the state that will also serve students in Harrisburg and Allentown. GEAR UP also provides up to $4,700 a year in college scholarship money if students stay in-state.