NYPD Arrests 14-Year-Old in Tessa Majors Stabbing Case

The NYPD on Thursday arrested a 14-year-old suspect believed to have stabbed Barnard freshman Tessa Majors in a park near the college’s Manhattan campus.

The 14-year-old was identified by a 13-year-old involved in the robbery as the one who committed the fatal stabbing, according to The New York Times. The 13-year-old boy remains in custody and faces a murder charge for his role in the attack.

Police questioned and released a different 14-year-old boy last week. The police then released a photo of the teenager on social media and asked the public for help in finding him, saying he was wanted in connection with the stabbing in Morningside Park. The NYPD does not usually release photos of minors.

Majors was stabbed around 7 p.m. near West 116th Street, at the foot of a staircase leading up to Morningside Heights. She then staggered up those stairs to the street, where she was found by a campus security guard.

The 13-year-old told detectives that he and two middle school classmates went to the park on the evening of December 11 determined to rob people, the police said. When the boys approached Majors and grabbed her from behind, she refused to hand over her belongings and fought back. That was when the 14-year-old stabbed Majors, according to the account the 13-year-old gave to detectives.

Crime has nearly tripled in Morningside Park over the last year. As of December 8, there had been 20 robberies inside or on the perimeter of the park, compared to seven in the same period last year. Recently, the police said, several teenagers had been arrested in a pattern of robberies in the area.

The police union and NYC mayor Bill de Blasio clashed on social media over the handling of the case, after president of the Sergeants Benevolent Association, Ed Mullins, used the case to criticize the lack of marijuana enforcement.

“NYC is becoming a cesspool thanks to the Mayor. Shame on DeBlasio,” the police union later tweeted.