Funeral for Grammy award-winning jazz drummer Lawrence 'Lo' Leathers to be live-streamed

Lansing State Journal

LANSING — A funeral has been scheduled for Grammy award-winning jazz drummer and Lansing native Lawrence "Lo" Leathers, who was killed earlier this month in New York.

The funeral for Leathers will take place at 10 a.m. June 29 at New Mount Calvary Baptist Church at 3800 W. Miller Rd. in Lansing.

A viewing will take place at 9 a.m. that day at the church. Friends and loved ones are encouraged to wear T-shirts they recently purchased to honor Leathers, said Brandon Leathers, his brother.

Burial will follow immediately after the funeral at Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens, 4444 W. Grand River Ave. in Lansing.

The funeral will be live-streamed online at Paradise Funeral Chapel's website, paradisefuneralchapel.com.

Lawrence "Lo" Leathers died June 2 in New York, police said. He was a Lansing native and two-time Grammy Award-winning jazz drummer.

Cause of death determined

The New York Medical Examiner's Office has determined Leathers died from "homicidal asphyxia with compression of the neck," according to an email sent Wednesday to the State Journal.

The body of Leathers, 37, was found June 2 by New York City police inside an apartment building in the Bronx.

A man and woman have been charged with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide in connection with Leathers' death.

The family of Lawrence Leathers are selling shirts to the jazz drummer's legacy. Police found Leathers, a Lansing native, dead in the Bronx, New York.

New York police have charged Sterling Aguilar, 28, and Lisa Harris, 41, both of New York City, with manslaughter and criminally-negligent homicide in connection with Leathers' death.

Aguilar and Harris live in the Bronx, and Harris has the same apartment address as Leathers, according to court records.

Leathers was a graduate of Lansing's Sexton High School and attended classes at Michigan State University's School of Music and the Julliard School in New York.

He won two Grammy Awards as a member of the Aaron Diehl Trio.

Leathers also performed as a featured artist at Small's Jazz Club in New York and served as a guest drummer on "Harry," Harry Connick Jr.'s talk show.

Family fundraiser underway

Shirts honoring Lawrence Leathers can still be purchased online at bit.ly/2KPryr7. Proceeds will help cover the Leathers family's funeral expenses, Brandon Leathers said.

Lawrence Leathers' family and friends have also created a GoFundMe page to raise money for the funeral.

Excess money will be used to launch the Lawrence "Lo" Leathers Foundation for the Performing Arts. For more information, visit bit.ly/2MvkXEB.

Grammy-winning jazz drummer dies in New York

Eric Lacy is a reporter for the Lansing State Journal. Contact him at 517-377-1206 or elacy@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @EricLacy.

Support local journalism by subscribing to the Lansing State Journal for only .33 cents per week for the first three months. For information, visit bit.ly/2UnxlJE.