14-Year-Old Boy Charged with Murder in Stabbing Death of Barnard Student Tessa Majors
A 14-year-old boy has been charged with murder in connection to the Dec. 11 stabbing death of Barnard College freshman Tessa Majors.
The New York Police Department and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office said at a news conference on Saturday that the suspect was arrested Friday at 10:30 p.m. in the lobby of a building in the presence of his mother and other relatives without incident, NBC New York, the New York Times, and CNN reported.
The suspect was charged with two counts of second-degree murder and several counts of robbery.
NBC New York also reported that the suspect was arraigned on Saturday afternoon and was remanded without bail. He is expected to appear in court on Feb. 19.
Authorities said that investigators had collected several pieces of physical evidence, including blood samples and a cellphone, the Times reported. They also accumulated video evidence, witness identification and the suspect’s own statements that they said tied the 14-year-old to the crime scene.
“We are confident that we have the person in custody who stabbed her, and that person will face justice in a court of law,” NYPD Commissioner Dermot Shea reportedly said. “For that I am grateful, the city is grateful and the community around Morningside Park can take some comfort.”
A 13-year-old boy has already been charged with second-degree murder in the case.
Majors was fatally stabbed multiple times during an alleged botched robbery inside Morningside Park, which is near the Barnard and Columbia University campuses in Manhattan.
The attack happened steps from Majors’ dormitory.
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Majors’ grandmother, Martha Burton, told PEOPLE in December that it is hard to comprehend that Tessa is gone.
“She had a younger brother, two years younger,” Burton said. “I am praying for him. They were so close, I never saw them fight. It’s so hard for him.”
