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Suspect arrested in killing of Barnard College freshman

A woman walks past a make-shift memorial for Tessa Majors inside the Barnard College campus, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2019, in New York. Majors, a 18-year-old Barnard College freshman from Virginia, was fatally stabbed in a park near the school's campus in New York City. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer) (Mary Altaffer, Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

NEW YORK, NY – A juvenile suspect has been arrested in the fatal stabbing of an 18-year-old Barnard College freshman, according to a law enforcement official with knowledge of the investigation.

The person was not authorized to speak publicly and did so on condition of anonymity Friday.

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Tessa Majors, of Charlottesville, Virginia, was walking in Manhattan’s Morningside Park just before 7 p.m. Wednesday when she was accosted by an unknown number of people and stabbed during a struggle, police officials said.

Chief of Detectives Rodney Harrison said possibly as many as three attackers were involved.

Majors was attacked during an armed robbery, according to the president of Barnard College, which is part of the Ivy League’s Columbia University. She then staggered to a nearby street, where she was spotted by a security guard who called 911, Harrison said. She died at a hospital.

Investigators recovered a knife Thursday but were not certain whether it was connected to Majors’ death.


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