The 13-year-old boy who has been charged with the murder of Tessa Majors reportedly confessed to his involvement in the robbery-turned-stabbing, and said 18-year-old Barnard College freshman tried to fight off her attackers in Morningside Park on Wednesday night.
As the New York Post reports, the juvenile suspect appeared in court on Friday, along with a detective who testified about the statements he gave after he was taken into custody on Thursday. The suspect was reportedly wearing clothes that matched a witness description of one of the students’ possible attackers, and admitted to his role in the killing when he was being questioned.
NYPD Detective Vincent Signoretti, who was among those who questioned the 13-year-old, appeared in Manhattan Family Court on Friday and testified about the statements made by the suspect, according to the report.
“He stated that he entered the park with two of his friends. The purpose of going into the park that day was to commit a robbery,’’ Signoretti said.
“They followed a man . . . with the intention of robbing him.”
The trio reportedly became “spooked” by something and abandoned plans to rob the man, instead turning their attention to Majors.
The teen suspect reportedly said that one of his friends “dropped a knife,” as the group ambushed the 18-year-old girl.
“[The suspect] picked [the knife] up and handed it back to [his friend], and then [the suspect] watched his friends grab the victim, put her in a chokehold and remove items from her pocket,” the detective reportedly said.
The suspect reportedly told detectives that Majors fought her attackers, and “saw the victim get stabbed. He saw feathers come out of her jacket, and them all three of them ran out of they park … and they went home.”
The suspect also said the one of the other boys said Majors bit him on the finger, according to the report.
Majors reportedly managed to climb a staircase after she had been stabbed multiple times, and a security officer who worked for Columbia University found her injured on the landing. She was transported to a nearby hospital where she was declared dead.
On Friday, police arrested a second suspect, a 14-year-old male, and charges are pending. A third suspect is reportedly still at large.
The 13-year-old suspect who appeared in court on Friday has been charged with murder and was ordered held without bail.
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