Would pressing a panic button have saved the life of a night shift supervisor who was killed while working at a George Junior Republic group home last week?

That's a question that Rick Losasso, CEO of the residential treatment facility for troubled youth in Pine Township, says can't be answered after the fact.

Reportedly, a panic button device that was supposed to be carried by Wayne L. Urey, 43, of Jefferson Township, was found on a desk outside the bedroom in Cottage S where police say 16-year old Jeremy Melvin of McKeesport and 17-year old Anthony Machicote attacked and killed him just after midnight on Nov. 10.

The panic button is a remote device carried by employees to summon help in case of emergencies.

"In this particular instance, I don't know whether that would've saved his life. We don't know this. I do know the security system was put in place for a reason," Losasso said Monday.

He said the panic buttons were added in response to a 1999 assault of a female counselor.

Losasso would not speak about whether Urey had the button on his person, but generally addressed the situation. He says he is worried about what such speculation is doing, not only to Urey's family, but to the incident itself. He said he was worried about blame being placed on the victim.

"Even if he did have it, there's no guarantee that it would've fully prevented that attack. If it had been clipped on his pocket, he may have still been able to be attacked without it being activated. Now, if his hand was actually on it, but who knows. We may never know. Anything I say is open to speculation," he said.

"The button is to help prevent these things from taking place."

Melvin and Machicote are being charged as adults in the case. They face a preliminary hearing on charges of homicide, robbery, theft, aggravated assault and conspiracy Nov. 26 in the Mercer court of District Justice Ruth M. French. District Justice Lawrence Silvis, Worth Township is handling the case.

After attacking Urey, the teenagers took his keys and fled George Junior in Urey's pick-up truck, police said. They were picked up by police in Pittsburgh that afternoon.

Urey had been attacked on the job in 1996. "He did require stitches, but he did not miss work," Losasso said.

As for the continued rumor that Melvin and Machicote attacked another councilor a night or two before Urey's death, Losasso said: "I can tell you, 100 percent unequivocally, the answer is no."

Losasso said the pair had not attacked anyone before Urey. If they had, they would have been taken out of the group home setting and placed in a crisis intervention unit under more strict supervision, he said.

He said one of the teens was visited by his probation officer Friday and everything went well. "The probation officer thought he was making good progress," Losasso said.

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