CITY LEADERS GATHER FOR DEDICATION

BALTIMORE - In the shadow of the site of one of the greatest
tragedies in city history, politicians and neighborhood residents
gathered Monday for a ceremony to remember and search for hope.

The event was held to dedicate a recently completed community center
on the site where seven members of the Dawson family perished in a
fire set by drug dealers in 2002.

"On Oct. 16, 2002, the family of Angela and Carnell Dawson paid the
ultimate price against evil," said Iris Tucker, pastor of the Knox
Presbyterian Church, located across the street from where the Dawson
home once stood.

"We now need to stand together," she said.

Gov.-elect Martin O'Malley, who was moved to tears during the
ceremony, said the dedication of the Dawson "Safe Haven" was only the
beginning.

"We're raising a cornerstone of a cathedral of love, in which the
children of the community will be raised," he said.

The Dawsons and five of their children burned to death after a drug
dealer threw a Molotov cocktail into their east Baltimore home. The
family, who had repeatedly battled drug-dealing near their Preston
Street home, refused to leave the neighborhood a choice that
cost them their lives. The children killed were 9-year-old twins
Keith and Kevin Dawson; Carnell Dawson Jr., 10; Juan Ortiz, 12; and
Lawanda Ortiz, 14.

The Safe Haven will provide after-school programs, counseling, access
to computers and GED preparation.

City Council President and Mayor-designee Sheila Dixon said it was
important to always remember the family that refused to give ground
to the city's drug business.

"If we don't remember the sacrifice the Dawson family made, then this
is all in vain," she said.

Dixon also said the center should provide a respite from the city's
aggressive battle against crime.

"There should not be a blue light on the corner," she said, referring
to the Baltimore Police Department's use of street cameras. "I might
be stepping on some toes here, but this block should be a sanctuary."

Residents of the neighborhood who witnessed the tragedy said they
were happy to see something positive rise from the ashes of the
Dawsons' home.

"This is a very good thing," said Rodney Myers who lives across the
street from the site. "The kids need a place to go where they're safe."