A second teenager has been arrested and charged in connection with the stabbing murder of Barnard College first year student Tessa Majors, the New York City district attorney announced Saturday morning.
The suspect, 14-year-old Rashaun Weaver, was charged with two counts of second degree murder and four counts of robbery. He’s been remanded in custody after being taken in Friday evening.
“Sadly, [this] cannot bring back this young woman. That is something even the best, most impartial investigation simply cannot do,” said NYPD commissioner Dermot Shea. He added police were “confident that we have the person in custody who stabbed her.”
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A criminal complaint reveals that video surveillance captured Weaver, wearing a navy jacket with a white and red stripe, and two other males struggling with Majors in Harlem’s Morningside Park on the evening of December 11.
A witness heard one of the males shout, “Run your shit. Gimme your phone. You got some weed, gimme that too.” The witness then heard a female scream, “Help me! I’m being robbed.” Those were Majors’ last words, Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance said on Saturday.
DNA belonging to Weaver was found under Majors’ fingernails, according to the criminal complaint. According to an audio recording obtained by police, Weaver allegedly said he was in the park at the time of Majors’ death. He said she was “hanging onto her phone” as he tried to take it and he hit her with a knife.
Location data and iCloud logins showed that, four days prior to Majors’ death, Weaver allegedly robbed a phone from another person in Morningside Park. He was captured on surveillance footage in the park and entering his nearby home, wearing the same navy jacket.
The first suspect, Zyairr Davis, 13, was arrested on charges of murder just days after Majors’ body was discovered. A third suspect, age 13, has been charged in family court.
Majors, an aspiring musician from Virginia, was fatally stabbed in what police believe was a botched robbery in Morningside Park. As she was walking through the park at about 6:30 p.m., three teens attempted to steal her phone, and, as she struggled with them, at least one stabbed her, police have alleged. Emergency personnel rushed her to nearby St. Luke's Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
Vance said the investigation into the case is ongoing.
Weaver, who will be tried as as adult, was arraigned on Saturday before Judge Melissa Jackson. He will reappear in court on February 19.
