Growing calls for more security in NYC area where Tessa Majors was murdered
Todd Piro reports from Morningside Park on the uptick in crime.
The 13-year-old charged with the murder of Barnard student Tessa Majors appeared in court for a hearing Tuesday, where the judge ordered that he remain in custody because of the serious nature of the crime and the threat to the public's safety.
“The court finds that there is a serious risk for reoffending,” Judge Carol Goldstein said at the Family Court in New York City, despite pleas from the teenage suspect's defense attorney, Hannah Kaplan, who argued that her client has a strong support system and is being cared for by his aunt and uncle, and has a good attendance record in school.
The suspect, whom Fox News has not identified because he is a minor, has been charged with second-degree murder, first- and second-degree robbery, and criminal possession of a weapon.
He arrived in court with his aunt and uncle; his face was puffy, he was wearing a sweater and only spoke to identify himself and his age.
Detective Wilfredo Acevedo, an officer with the New York Police Department (NYPD), testified at the hearing that the 13-year-old told him during questioning that he was with two other teenage boys at Morningside Park on Wednesday evening when the two other boys allegedly attempted to rob Majors and knifed her when she tried to resist them.
Acevedo told the court that the suspect said he, "along with the two other individuals, went into the park to rob someone,” and followed a man up the stairs of the park but decided not to rob him.
Shortly after, they came across Majors, an 18-year-old college freshman. At that point, the 13-year-old told detectives he "picked up the knife and handed it to one of the individuals," Acevedo said.
“One of the two individuals asked the victim, Ms. Majors, to rob her. She refused... One of the individuals had the knife, stabbed her,” he said, adding that the suspect said "he was a few steps away.”
Acevedo said the 13-year-old recalled one of the boys in the group grabbing Majors from behind while another teenage boy "sliced her in a stabbing poking motion." The 13-year-old "saw feathers come up from the chest area,” Acevedo said.
SUSPECT, 13, IN MURDER OF BARNARD COLLEGE STUDENT TESSA MAJORS ORDERED HELD WITHOUT BAIL
The badly injured college student reportedly stumbled up the stairs of the park after being left for dead and eventually found a security guard, who called 911.
Officer Ena Lewis testified at the hearing that Majors was lying facedown in the park, blood on her face, wheezing and trying to catch her breath. Lewis said Majors had several stab wounds on her body, as well as lacerations on her face. Lewis said she administered CPR on Majors at the scene and in the ambulance, to no avail.
Acevedo said that the park was "extremely dark,” around 7:30 p.m. after the stabbing had occurred, adding that of the lamp posts lining the park, "none of them were on at the moment.”
During cross-examination, Acevedo said that surveillance video from the park at the time of the incident is not the best quality and is very pixilated and dark. He also said it does not capture the entire incident.
Acevedo said the video shows the suspect and his two friends hanging out at the top of the steps of the park, but doesn't show the 13-year-old in possession of the knife, touching Majors or taking anything from her.
The footage did, however, capture Majors and two of the teenagers scuffling at the bottom of the steps and the individuals making a “poking” motion toward Majors before fleeing the park.
During closing arguments, Kaplan reiterated that the video does not show the suspect's involvement in the incident or about a robbery taking place, and argued that there is no evidence of the suspect participating in the crime.
Prosecutors for the state, along with Judge Goldstein disagreed, saying that being in the park, handing the knife to another person, and not leaving the scene until the other two teenagers did, implicate the 13-year-old in the crime.
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Sergeants Benevolent Association President Ed Mullins caught flack for comments he made Sunday suggesting that Majors had been in the park that night looking for marijuana.
Mayor Bill de Blasio called Mullins' comments "heartless," and Majors' family also decried them as "irresponsible public speculation."
The judge has scheduled another court hearing for the 13-year-old suspect on Jan. 2.
Fox News' Maria Paronich contributed to this report.
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