MSU freshman found dead in apartment

Friends remember communication freshman Alivia Peterson as genuine, energetic and always able to brighten a bad day.

“You may not know her name, but you see her face and you know she’s a friend,” friend and packaging junior Vincent Davis said.

Peterson, 19, was found dead at around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday in an apartment in The Club at Chandler Crossings apartment complex by an employee, Bath Township police Chief Scott Rose said.

Investigators determined she died from natural causes, he said.

A Kalamazoo resident, Peterson came to MSU after graduating from Central High School.

Friends of Peterson said she was the “perfect friend” — always able to make a bad situation better. Davis said her energy could always turn a bad day around.

“Any time you got down, you really felt like you’d have a better day if you’d seen her,” he said. “She was really uplifting.”

Criminal justice sophomore Erica Adams, who considered Peterson to be one of her best friends, remembered Peterson as the person who comforted her after she lost a friend.

Peterson was generous and always willing to help her friends, she said.

“We were both broke,” Adams said. “If she had $5, $2.50 was mine, no question about it.”

Adams recalled a time when Peterson arranged a surprise birthday party, complete with balloons and a birthday cake.

“She pulled that all together so I would feel special on my birthday,” she said. “She was like the perfect friend. I never had a bad memory with Alivia. Never.”

Davis, who said he will always remember her smile and laugh, said Peterson will be missed by the many friends she made while at MSU.

“A lot of people loved her,” he said. “She made a lot of good friends.”