Hearing reveals new details in case of murdered student Tessa Majors
New York — New York City police have stepped up the search for a 14-year-old suspect in the stabbing death of college freshman Tessa Majors. The teen bolted Monday night as a family member was driving him to be questioned by detectives.
A second suspect, who is 13, appeared in court on Tuesday. He sat slumped in court, staring ahead blankly, at one point yawning during the evidence hearing that would determine his role in Majors' death.
An NYPD detective testified that surveillance video shows the boy never touched Majors or held a knife. But the detective said the boy told him he had picked up the knife before the robbery when his friend dropped it. On Tuesday, he was charged with felony murder and robbery.
The 13-year-old's name has not been made public. The NYPD testified the boy told them he watched as his two friends grabbed Majors and put her in a chokehold. They said he identified the 14-year-old, whom he said slashed Majors several times in the torso with a knife, causing feathers to fall out Majors' coat, and that Majors yelled for help.
After the attack, Majors stumbled up a flight of stairs before collapsing at a security booth near campus. She was found face down and eventually stopped breathing. Majors, a Virginia native, was in a band and was just finishing up her first semester at Barnard College.
The murder weapon has not been found and there were no eyewitnesses. The 13-year-old boy will stay in police custody.