Youngest Teen in Tessa Majors Murder Describes What He Saw

Boy who was 13 when arrested pleads guilty to first-degree robbery
By Evann Gastaldo,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 4, 2020 1:51 AM CDT
Youngest Teen Accused in Tessa Majors Murder Cops Plea
Law enforcement officers search Morningside Park along Manhattan's Upper West Side, Thursday, Dec. 12, 2019, in New York.   (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

The youngest of the boys accused of murdering Tessa Majors in a Manhattan park in December has taken a plea deal. The boy, who was 13 when he was arrested the day after Majors, a freshman at Barnard, was stabbed to death Dec. 11 in Morningside Park, on Wednesday pleaded guilty to a single count of first-degree robbery, CNN reports. The boy, now 14, was initially charged with second-degree murder, first-degree robbery, and criminal possession of a weapon; the other charges will be dropped. The teen will be sentenced June 15, and faces six to 18 months in detention. He will get credit for the time he's been in custody, the New York Post reports. At the remote Wednesday hearing, held via a Zoom call that CBS reports was beset with technical issues, he described going into the park with the other two suspects, Rashaun Weaver and Lucci Lewis, "to rob someone."

He says when they saw Majors, 18, he watched as Weaver used a knife the teen had previously handed Weaver to stab Majors. "I saw feathers coming out of her coat," he said. Lewis is accused of holding Majors in a headlock as she was stabbed. Weaver and Lewis, who were 14 when they were arrested and have since turned 15, pleaded not guilty to multiple murder and robbery charges. They were charged as adults, while the third boy was charged as a juvenile. The Legal Aid Society, which is representing the third boy, says, "He did not touch Ms. Majors or take any of her property. Furthermore, no DNA evidence exists linking him to the events." It notes the teen will face repercussions of the "tragic" event "for a long time, likely the rest of his life." A prosecutor adds, "This resolution is in the best interest of the community and for a youth who has had no prior contact with the juvenile justice system and was not the main actor in the murder." (More Tessa Majors stories.)

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