They called first for divine intervention.

Then they called for the intervention of local officials.

At an outdoor prayer vigil and community meeting at the senior center in Sheraden Tuesday evening, around 175 people gathered to lament a laundry list of community ills -- violence, blight, parking, dangerous roads -- and to discuss with city officials how to fix them.

City Councilwoman Theresa Kail-Smith called the meeting and assembled a bevy of city officials to present a plan to address blight and crime in the neighborhood after the small West End community saw two killings in less than a week.

On July 13, the body of 14-year-old Lauren Deis was found wrapped in garbage bags outside a trash bin at Pittsburgh Langley High School, just around the corner from the Sheraden Senior Center. Police have arrested Tushon Brown, 35, who told them he lured the East Liberty girl to his house on Glen Mawr Avenue, had sex with her and then stabbed her to death on July 6.

On July 7, Ben Lewis, 44, was found dead in his Sacramento Street home. Police said he had been shot and beaten. They recovered both of his vehicles nearby, but have yet to make an arrest in the case.

The brutal nature of the crimes shook the community and, before the arrest of Mr. Brown, Zone 6 Cmdr. Scott Schubert said that he received e-mails from residents concerned there was a serial killer.

"You don't expect these things to happen in your neighborhood," said Kathy Tracey, who works at the McKees Rocks Assembly of God. "That murder of that young girl made me think that something has to be done."

Outside at the prayer vigil, local clergy rallied the crowd to call on God to guide them in their quest to improve their community.

"Together we are going to break down the gates of Hell," said Councilman Ricky Burgess, also a pastor at Nazarene Baptist Church in Homewood. "We are going to tell these criminals that we are going to reclaim these streets."

Later, the crowd crammed into the senior center, where Mayor Luke Ravenstahl -- along with police and officials from the Department of Public Works, the Bureau of Building Inspection, the Urban Redevelopment Authority and the Pittsburgh Housing Authority -- laid out a multi-prong plan to address many of the issues that residents said they have complained about for years.

Ms. Kail-Smith said she had met with the mayor and other city officials twice in the past week about spearheading efforts to address quality-of-life issues in Sheraden.

Cmdr. Schubert announced a plan to create a recreation center for the neighborhood's youth, who are responsible for nearly a third of all the crime in Sheraden, Ms. Kail-Smith said.

Public officials also pledged to blitz the neighborhood to address issues such as overgrown vacant lots, slumlords and blight.

Public Works Director Rob Kaczorowski said he planned to do a Redd-Up campaign throughout the entire neighborhood, cleaning up vacant lots and fencing off areas that had been used for dumping.

John Jennings, acting director of the Bureau of Building Inspection, said his department has already started a thorough block-by-block look at the neighborhood and vowed to crack down on code violators.

But Deborah Jones, a retired cancer researcher who lives on Zephyr Avenue, wanted to know what would be done about the registered sex offenders in the neighborhood. Mr. Brown, who was arrested in Lauren's death, was a convicted sex offender who had been living illegally in Section 8 housing with his new wife on Glen Mawr street, where he told police he killed Lauren.

"How do we protect our children?" she asked city officials. "We need to protect our children."

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