After string of carjackings, we return to the scene of the one that ended in murder

GATES, N.Y. (WHEC) — After a run of carjackings around the city, we return to the scene where a carjacking turned into a murder.

We’ve had more than 14 carjackings in the city this year. And in the past week, Rochester Police arrested teenagers as young as 14 for being in one of the suspected carjacked cars.

It was almost a year ago when Gates Police say two teenagers shot and killed 71-year-old Richard Sciascia when they were trying to carjack him.

Friday his step-daughter returned to the scene with us.

I walked with Emily Austin down Buell Road near the airport. It was here on April 7, that her step-father, Richard Sciascia was shot and killed while he was being carjacked.

"See what I mean?" Austin said as we arrived at the roadside memorial.

She gets discouraged at the state of the memorial. The metal cross was bent when we arrived Friday. She thinks it’s more likely caused by snowplows than vandals.

Police say Richard Sciascia was shot by two 16-year-olds who were trying to take his car. I asked Austin, who is a school counselor, to reflect on the teenagers getting arrested after carjackings now.

"I’m distraught because from my understanding these are also children committing these crimes," she said. "And they have no recourse to understand what they’ve done, what they’re going to face if they’re caught."

Because Rochester Police arrested the teenagers hours and sometimes days after the recent carjackings, they’ve only been able to ticket them with unlawful operation of a car, not stealing it with a gun.

When Sciascia was killed, it was the 14th carjacking in Monroe County in two weeks.

"I think it starts at home. it starts with the parents. You need to be there for your kids," Austin said. "You need to teach them better because at some point, this could be you standing here and not me."

The two 16-year-olds are charged with intentional murder.

There is a hearing scheduled on their cases in June.