Teenage daughter and boyfriend 'stabbed and beat her own father to death'

A teenage girl and her boyfriend have been charged with second-degree murder after police in upstate New York say her father was found beaten and stabbed to death.

Alexandria Heath, 17, and Romaine Jirdon, 19, pleaded not guilty when they were arraigned over the killing of 58-year-old Thomas Heath on Sunday (19 November).

Both teens are being held in Erie County Jail without bail.

Investigators have not revealed a motive for the alleged attack on Friday night, saying only that there "was apparently an altercation" at the Buffalo apartment where the girl and her father lived.

Police arrived at the property in West Ferry Street after receiving a call from someone concerned about a disturbance.

By the time officers gained entry to the apartment Thomas Heath was already dead.

There were no other occupants and the two teenagers were eventually tracked down and arrested.

"After some brief questioning, they took them into custody," District Attorney John Flynn told The Buffalo News.

"At this time, we don't know exactly what happened... but we have enough information to arrest the two of them for the beating and stabbing."

Neighbours told The Buffalo News that Alexandria Heath is pregnant and that her father had strongly objected when Jirdon tried to move into the house a week ago.

In the moments leading up to police arriving on Friday, one neighbour said he heard Jirdon shout, "get down on the floor, b***h", before then hearing glass smashing. He said the youth then exclaimed: "We gotta get the f**k outta here."

If convicted of the second-degree murder charge, the defendants face a maximum of 25 years to life in prison.

A felony hearing is scheduled for Wednesday.