A surveillance video in the Manhattan park where 18-year-old Tessa Majors was murdered last week captured her robbery and stabbing, police revealed in court on Friday.
The New York Post reports that an NYPD detective testified at a hearing for a 13-year-old suspect in the murder that a camera had captured three juveniles attack the Barnard freshman on Wednesday evening.
Detective Wilfredo Acevedo said that the clip captured “a little scuffle at the bottom of the steps, and poking motions towards the victim.”
According to Fox News, the investigator said that the security camera was at the top of a security booth at the entrance to Morningside Park, but the detective did not say if it was the same security booth near where Majors was found by a Columbia University security officer after she climbed, injured, up a flight of stairs toward the booth for help.
A source familiar with the investigation told CrimeOnline that the security booth housing the Columbia University guard had a camera on it, but could not confirm if it was recording at the time of the attack.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, the 13-year-old suspect is the only to be charged in connection with Majors’ murder. He reportedly admitted to police that he had a role in the robbery-turned-killing, but that he did not take part in the stabbing.
According to the New York Post, Acevedo confirmed under questioning from the suspect’s lawyer that the teen boy, who is not being charged as an adult, is not seen touching Majors in the video, while the other two juveniles allegedly put her in a chokehold and stabbed her.
The 14-year-old believed to be the person who inflicted the fatal injuries reportedly ran out of a car on Monday on his way to speak to police, launching a manhunt. It is not clear if police know where the juvenile is. Another teen boy was released without charges on Friday as authorities reportedly work to gather more evidence.
The judge presiding over the probable cause hearing reportedly said that the case against the 13-year-old suspect can proceed.
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast.