13-year-old boy arrested in murder of Barnard College student Tessa Majors; 14-year-old released
MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS, Manhattan -- Police released a 14-year-old Saturday after he was being questioned in connection with the brutal death of a young Barnard College freshman Tessa Majors.
Divers were searching the pond in Morningside Park on Saturday, three days after the brutal death of a young Barnard College freshman Tessa Majors.
Growing memorials are in place on the edge of campus feet from where she collapsed after being stabbed multiple times.
Police have arrested a 13-year-old who was found with a knife while it's not clear if that was the murder weapon. Police say they are not talking to anyone else at this time.
The teen says he was present and only handled the knife, but he has implicated two others from his nearby middle school.
Majors, a musician from Virginia was walking home around 5 p.m. Wednesday when she was attacked in the park and able to stumble up the stairs before she collapsed in front of a security booth.
Police were able to identify Majors because the attackers appear to have dropped her cellphone. While one person remains in custody police have been reviewing surveillance video and searching this park for days looking for more evidence...
Students at Barnard College expressed their grief and wondered how it could have happened.
"I had seen the helicopters flying over the park with their searchlights," said Leah Schafer a highschool sophomore who grew up next to the park. "It's just such a tragedy and from what I can tell we really want more information - people want justice."
Danielle Mikaelian, a Columbia University English major said, "Tess Majors was a very bright spirit very passionate about what she did."
"She's three years younger than me...to think that she was probably planning some of these same things and they're never going to happen for her is heart-wrenching," said Mikaelian.
"It's really shaken up the community," student Katie Long said.
Other students were calling for more security.
"There should be 24/7 security guards," student Marwa Khairy said. "Personally, when I go through the park, I almost never see a security guard."
Investigators are still combing the park for evidence.
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