A 13-year-old boy has been arrested in connection with the robbery and stabbing death of an 18-year-old New York City college student, according to multiple reports.
Tessa Majors, a first-year student at Barnard College, was killed while walking through Morningside Park on Wednesday night when three teens attempted to rob her. At a hearing Friday, NYPD Detective Vincent Signoretti testified that the 13-year-old boy, who has not been publicly named, had gone to the park with two other teens with the intention of robbing people, according to the New York Times.
Authorities said one of the teens pulled a knife on Majors and stabbed her several times before the group fled. A roughly 4-inch-long folding knife was found near the scene and is being tested for DNA and fingerprints, according to a law enforcement official at the hearing.
The 13-year-old was arrested on trespassing charges in a building near the park Thursday night and interviewed by detectives with his uncle present, the Times reported. His statements led investigators to the other suspects, one of whom is a 14-year-old who was detained Friday but was released shortly after.
The third suspect, believed to be the teen who stabbed Majors, was still being sought by authorities, according to the Times.
It's unclear if the 13-year-old will be charged as an adult. CNN reported he is expected to be arraigned on charges of second-degree felony murder, robbery, and criminal possession of a weapon.
The 13-year-old is being represented by an attorney with the Legal Aid Society, which declined to comment when reached by BuzzFeed News on Saturday.
“This makes what was already an excruciating tragedy even more painful,” Mark Levine, a city council member who represents the neighborhood where Majors was stabbed, said at Friday's hearing. “You now have families on both sides of this horrific crime who are facing devastating loss.”