BUFFALO, N.Y. — Three men were sentenced Friday for the death of a Town of Tonawanda mother, the attempted murder of her two children and killing two other people in a separate robbery.
Ernest B. Green, Jr., 41, and Daniel Rodriguez, 41, both of Buffalo were sentenced to 75 years to life in prison for murdering Danielle Cretacci and shooting her two children during a home invasion in the Town of Tonawanda on Aug. 27, 2019.
Cretacci, 31, died at the scene. Her two children were 8 and 11 years old at the time. One of the children pretended to play dead and watched the suspects leave the scene before going to a neighbor for help. Both children were taken to Erie County Medical Center and treated for their injuries.
Jurors found Green and Rodriguez each guilty of one count of murder in the second degree and two counts of attempted murder in the second degree following an 11-day trial and six hours of deliberation.
The same jury also found Green and another co-defendant Wayne Robbins, 27, of Buffalo guilty on two counts of murder in the first degree and four counts of murder in the second degree in connection to a separate crime involving homicides in the City of Buffalo.
The Erie County District Attorney's Office says Green and Robbins murdered 21-year-old Bethany B. Malloy and 26-year-old Shaquiel S. St. John during a home invasion on Merrimac Street on Sept. 27, 2019.
Green and Robbins were sentenced by the judge to life in prison without parole in that crime.
“The families of Danielle Cretacci, Bethany Malloy and Shaquiel St. John have waited a long time for justice. These were brutal killings motivated by greed. I hope that the families of the victims feel a sense of legal closure as these three defendants have been convicted of all counts in the indictment and will spend the rest of their lives in prison,” said acting Erie County District Attorney Michael J. Keane.
A fourth co-defendant, Sharee Bailey, 32, of Cheektowaga pleaded guilty to one count of robbery in the first degree. She is being held without bail pending her sentencing. She faces up to 25 years in prison when she is sentenced June 4.
A fifth defendant was charged with his involvement of the robbery on Merrimac Street, but the complaint was dismissed in Buffalo City Court.
Things got heated several times before a judge sentenced Green, Rodriguez, and Robbins Friday morning in a courtroom full of the victims' family members.
"You are not men. You are degenerates. You are cowards, and one day I hope your children and family come to see that," said Anthony Avery, St. John's brother.
"There's no words to, that can hurt you enough. But I hope that you hurt. I hope every bit of you hurts for the rest of your own miserable life," said Christina Gilinger, Bethany Malloy's mother.
These were the maximum sentences for these crimes.
Prosecutors talked about the role Cretacci's daughters played in getting justice for their mom by testifying at the trial.
"They gave physical descriptions that were very important that were consistent with the defendants, and they were also able to distinguish the conduct between the two people, so we were very certain that it was Ernest Green who fired the shots," said Chief Ryan Haggerty with the Narcotics/Intelligence Bureau.
The women were targeted because the defendants found out they had received, or were about to receive, large insurance settlements.
"They were preying on people who counted these defendants as friends, and it was the, they did not suspect for a moment that they would, you know, betray them in this way, and let alone for money," Haggerty said.
Prosecutors explained how they figured out who the killers were through a Post-it Note left on Cretacci's nightstand with a phone number on it.
"We looked at that number, ran it, came back to Danny Rodriguez. Turns out Danny Rodriguez was also actively communicating with Danielle about twenty minutes before the murder through Facebook Messenger. So Danny, we believe, had a relationship with Danielle Cretacci. Danny and Ernest Green have known each other for a very long time, and they've been charged with a similar crime like this before, so it seems like this was just what appeared to be a crime of opportunity to get $30,000 in an insurance settlement," Haggerty said.
RELATED VIDEO: