Tessa Majors Case Sees 14-Year-Old Boy Charged With Murder

A 14-year-old boy was charged in connection to the murder of Tessa Majors. The teen, who has not yet been identified by name, is believed to have wielded the knife that killed the New York City college student during an attempted robbery. He’s the second suspect arrested for the December stabbing death of the Barnard College freshman. 

The boy was charged with two counts of second-degree murder, and several counts of robbery, according to The New York Times. He will be tried as an adult, according to New York City police. “Sadly, it cannot bring back this young woman, this student, this victim,” NYPD Commissioner Dermot F. Shea said in a press conference on February 15. “We can say we are confident that we have the person in custody who stabbed her.”

Majors was found dead outside of Morningside Park on December 11. Two days later, a 13-year-old suspect was arrested and charged in Majors’ murder. The authorities believed that there were other suspects in the case, including a 14-year-old boy who reportedly fled from a car on his way to meet police for questioning in the days after Majors was found. 

In late December, authorities tracked the 14-year-old to a home in the Bronx. Majors reportedly bit the hand of her attacker and authorities believed that the teenager’s family was hiding him from police until his hand healed. The mark on the 14-year-old’s hand was consistent with a bite, according to an official briefed on the case who spoke with The Times.

Following the teen’s questioning, he was let go with the police focusing on the DNA tests ordered by a Manhattan judge to link him to the case. Authorities reportedly collected pieces of physical evidence, including blood samples and a cellphone, along with video evidence and statements from witnesses and the suspect that tied the 14-year-old to the crime scene.

In a statement sent to Refinery29 following her death, Majors' family expressed their heartbreak over this tragedy. "We lost a very special, very talented, and very well-loved young woman. Tess shone bright in this world, and our hearts will never be the same."

Shea echoed this in his statement following this arrest. “And again, sadly, there is no comfort that we can give them,” he said in a press conference. “And for that, we are sorry.”