Police Find and Then Release Teen Wanted for Questioning in Tessa Majors Killing
Police finally found a 14-year-old wanted for questioning in the slaying of Barnard College student Tessa Majors. But they released him hours later without charges.
Courtesy Majors Family
New York police located, then released, a 14-year-old boy wanted for questioning in the killing of Barnard College freshman Tessa Majors, who was found stabbed to death in a Manhattan park on Dec. 11.
On Thursday, investigators announced their manhunt for the teenager was over and that officers had picked him up at a relative’s home in the Bronx. But hours later, cops let the juvenile go without charging him.
“Although he has since been released to the custody of his attorneys, the investigation remains very active,” NYPD Chief of Detectives Rodney Harrison announced on Twitter. “Our detectives are the best at what they do and are committed to finding justice for all parties involved.”
The 14-year-old is one of three minors suspected in the high-profile slaying of Majors, 18, who was killed in a robbery gone wrong in Morningside Park. According to The New York Times, authorities believed the teen’s family was hiding him until a mark on his hand healed. An official briefed on the case told the Times that the mark was consistent with a bite.
The teen, who is believed to have wielded the knife, was questioned for hours at the 26th Precinct station house, the Times reported. And, according to the New York Post, police swabbed his cheek for a DNA sample in an attempt to link the boy to the killing.
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Police say Majors bit one of her attackers during the deadly mugging. A 13-year-old suspect—the only person yet charged in the case—was arrested the day after the attack, and allegedly told detectives he watched his two friends choke and stab Tessa and rob her, CBS New York reported. The middle-schooler is being held on charges including second-degree murder and first- and second-degree robbery.
A third teenager, who is 14, was released without charges on the same day; he had requested a lawyer and declined to give a statement.
Detectives are working with prosecutors to gather information to charge the other two teens, a law enforcement official told CNN.
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