Greco's murderers arraigned in Niagara County Court

The pair are accused of throwing a blanket over Renee C. Greco, 24, of Buffalo, and bludgeoning her to death June 8, while Greco was supervising five troubled teens in a group home called Avenue House in the City of Lockport.

Lawyers for the two teens entered not guilty pleas on behalf of their clients.

County Judge Sara Sheldon Sperazza ordered that Allen and Thousand continue to be held without bail in the Niagara County Jail, where the two teens have been since their arrest in Buffalo the morning after the slaying.

"My position is there will be no plea offers made," District Attorney Michael J. Violante told The Buffalo News after the proceeding.

Violante said he assured Greco's family after a county grand jury handed up indictments against the teens that his office will do everything in its power to prosecute them and advocate for lengthy prison terms if they are convicted.

"It's difficult to believe that two young people could be so violent," he said.

Greco was so unnerved by working alone at night in the Lockport group home that she was on the verge of quitting, her friends and family told The News in the days after her death.

Her brother, Anthony Greco, was among those who said his sister told them she planned to soon give her two weeks' notice so she could work in a salon while she pursued her dream job as a youth counselor.

Lockport police said after Allen and Thousand were arrested that Greco was beaten to death after the defendants hatched a plan to conceal the theft of $160 from a lockbox the previous weekend.

Greco was the only employee on duty that Monday night at Avenue House, a six-bed group home run by New Directions Youth & Family Services. Police said the two teens threw a blanket over her head while she was playing cards with other residents in the home.

She was found dead in the house shortly after 9:30 p.m., not long before her shift was scheduled to end.

State officials forced New Directions Youth & Family Services to close Avenue House after the slaying, and New Directions officials said it is unlikely to reopen.

Meanwhile, Lockport's mayor, Michael W. Tucker, and state lawmakers � particularly Sen. Catharine M. Young, R-Olean � have questioned staffing levels at neighborhood juvenile settings and why the state Department of Family and Children's Services has moved forward with plans to close institutional juvenile detention centers.

The office had closed several secure facilities in upstate, including two in Cattaraugus County, and now has fewer choices of where to put "clearly potentially violent offenders," state Sen. George D. Maziarz, R-Newfane, said in June.

"The system seems broken in New York State," Young said, "and we have a moral obligation to fix it."