Published: June 16, 2009 10:25 pm      

LOCKPORT: Friends plan vigil for Greco

Friends of Renee Greco, the 24-year-old youth counselor beaten to death last week at a city group home for teenagers, will hold a candlelight vigil in her honor at the place where she died.

Meanwhile, state Sen. George Maziarz, R-Newfane, said Tuesday he has been “disappointed” so far in discussions with the state Office of Children & Family Services about staffing and youth placement in group homes.

The vigil is planned for 7:30 p.m. Monday outside the Avenue House, 437 East Ave., where police say Greco was killed by two resident teens.

Jocelyn Buczek of Lackawanna knew Greco for several years. She said she hopes the vigil will be well-attended.

“(I want to) have a lot of people there,” Buczek said. “I want the officials and everyone to know the support Renee has in the community.”

Buczek and several other friends attended a court hearing Monday for the two teens accused of killing Greco: Robert Thousand, 17, and Anthony Allen, 18, both of Rochester.

The teens have each been charged with second-degree murder, first-degree robbery and second-degree burglary. At Monday’s appearance in Lockport City Court, they each waived the right to a preliminary hearing, and their cases were sent for consideration by the grand jury on the county level.

Police say the killing was motivated by an attempt to cover up a larceny in the Avenue House, a six-bed home for children under the auspices of New Directions Youth & Family Services, which also oversees Wyndham Lawn Home.

Allen and another teen had allegedly stolen $160 from a lockbox in the Avenue House the day before. Police say upon learning officials planned to fingerprint the box and discover who had stolen the money, Allen hatched the plan to kill Greco and escape.

On the night of June 8, he and Thousand approached Greco from behind while she was playing cards with other kids in the home. They allegedly covered her head with a blanket and bludgeoned her with items they had found in the basement.

They stole the Wyndham Lawn van from the home and drove it to Wal-Mart, where they left it and called a taxi to take them to a bus station in Buffalo.

They were apprehended by NFTA police before they could board a 2:45 a.m. bus to Rochester.

The Avenue House has been shut down temporarily, pending an investigation by the Office of Children & Family Services.

Edward Borges, director of communication for OCFS, said the home was complying with all staffing requirements for group homes, including a 6-1 ratio of youth to staff.

Maziarz and state Assemblywoman Jane Corwin, R-Clarence, have met with OCFS administrators in Albany to review staffing and youth placement requirements for OCFS and New Directions.

Maziarz said the meetings have so far been “very disappointing.”

“The representatives of OCFS have not answered any questions specifically about the Lockport home,” he said. “They, I think, hide behind the fact that there’s a criminal investigation ongoing and they can’t comment on the specifics.”

Maziarz said he would like to know how Allen and Thousand ended up placed in “an unsecure facility” with one worker on staff. He said he’s received several calls from community members and others about the two suspects, including some information about their criminal pasts.

“I’m told these two, and in particular one of them, had an extremely violent past,” Maziarz said. “I’ve contacted some staff people at other secure facilities where these individuals were, to see if I can’t find out from some staff people what their history is. ... If OCFS knew of their history and put them in an unsecure facility, I think that somebody’s going to have to answer for that.”

Corwin and Maziarz have expressed concerns that recent closures of several secure youth facilities upstate, called for in the 2009-10 state budget, forced placement of violence-prone youth offenders in non-secure surroundings, though Borges denies that was the case.

Borges said several homes in the Southern Tier were closed due to a lack of youth residents.

Maziarz said he believes the homes were empty because OCFS officials “refused” to put youth offenders in them.

“I think they wanted these individuals to be put in (group homes) like Avenue House, which are totally inappropriate for these types,” he said.

Corwin issued a statement Tuesday regarding her meeting with OCFS officials, during which she said OCFS disclosed they are launching an internal investigation into the murder.

“(We) questioned the office in regard to staffing requirements and the policy and procedures in place that would relegate the two juveniles into this type of group home,” Corwin said. ”As we anxiously await the results of the investigation, our work will continue. We anticipate future meetings to verify the progress of the ongoing inquiry, as well as to determine the direction that should be followed to prevent these types of tragedies from occurring in the future.”

Maziarz said he has received many calls from residents concerned about group homes in the wake of Greco’s death.

“The homes are in the community,” he said. “What’s the training level of the staff people assigned to the homes? And I think more importantly, what’s the background of some of these individuals? ... I’m very concerned, and I’m not ready to draw a conclusion yet, but I’m very concerned in the direction that (OCFS Commissioner Gladys Carrion) has been going in.”

Contact reporter April Amadon at 439-9222, ext. 6251.