13-Year-Old Arrested, Charged in Fatal Stabbing of College Student
A 13-year-old has been arrested in connection with Wednesday night’s murder of a Barnard College student in Upper Manhattan, New York. Police have indicated two other young teenagers are also implicated in the stabbing.
Freshman Tessa Majors was jogging in Morningside Park, near the campus, when she was stabbed. Although she was taken to a hospital, she died from her injuries.
On Thursday, police picked up the 13-year-old suspect and held him on a charge of criminal trespass when he allegedly began to discuss Majors’ death and implicated himself, according to WABC-TV.
The boy had a knife in his possession at the time of his arrest. Police said it is not known if that was the murder weapon; they had also recovered a knife near the scene of Majors’ attack.
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The 13-year-old faces charges of murder, robbery and weapons possession, but he will be tried as a juvenile in the family court system. Although police did not reveal his identity because of his age, they said the suspect was 5 feet 5 inches tall and was from Harlem.
On Friday, the arresting officer testified in court that the 13-year-old did not kill Majors, but had found the knife used and gave it to others.
Police have reportedly detained a 14-year-old in the case and are looking for a third juvenile who is also 13, The New York Times reported.
Police have said that the statements the 13-year-old made match what they have seen on surveillance video.
Majors had been jogging and was walking in Morningside Park when she was approached in the park near West 116th Street and Morningside Drive, Rodney Harrison, the NYPD chief of detectives, on Thursday.
The Daily News quoted what it said was a “police source” who said the 13-year-old and two other juveniles had decided to rob someone Wednesday. The first target was a man who they decided not to rob, the Daily News reported that the source said. Majors was their second target. The youths wanted her phone, but she resisted and was stabbed multiple times, the police source said.
Majors managed to climb a flight of stairs and find a security guard booth near the Columbia/Barnard campus but was pronounced dead at St. Luke’s Hospital.
Students in the area said security needs an upgrade.
“There should be 24/7 security guards,” student Marwa Khairy told WABC. “Personally, when I go through the park, I almost never see a security guard.”
Hi @mitchell_silver, Columbia Grad Student here with specific concerns abt @NYCParks’ maintenance of Morningside Park lighting. 1 in 3 lamp posts are out. I counted 12+ non-functioning. How many people need to die before you fix? Also, what’s your email? #TessaMajors pic.twitter.com/0l4OI3UYAB
— D Podolsky (@DPodolsky_) December 13, 2019
“We are devastated by the senseless loss of our beautiful and talented Tess,” Majors’ family said in a statement.
“We are thankful for the incredible outpouring of love and support we have received from across the country. We would also like to express our appreciation for the efforts of the men and women of the NYPD, who continue to work diligently on this case.”
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