The Times Herald (Norristown, PA)
Donald F. Hockman, DDS,
NEW YORK » A 14-year-old has been arrested in the fatal stabbing of a Barnard College student in a park during a robbery in December, a crime that rattled New York City residents, authorities said Saturday.
Rashaun Weaver has been indicted by a grand jury and was taken into custody Friday night without incident, New York City Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said at a news conference.
Weaver, charged with second-degree murder and robbery, is the second teenager to be charged in the attack on 18-year-old Tessa Majors in a Manhattan park.
“We are confident that we have the person in custody who stabbed her,” Shea said. “And that person will face justice in a court of law.”
The Associated Press is naming the juvenile defendant because of the seriousness of the crime and because he has been charged as an adult. Weaver’s attorney, Elsie Chandler, did not immediately return a call to Neighbor Defender Service of Harlem seeking comment.
“He’s a 14-year-old child and he’s presumed not guilty,” Chandler told the New York Post after Weaver’s bail hearing Saturday, at which he was ordered held without bail at a juvenile facility until his arraignment Wednesday.
Majors was stabbed as she walked through
Morningside Park early the evening of Dec. 11. She staggered up a flight of stairs to street level and collapsed in a crosswalk.
A criminal complaint released Saturday described Majors as struggling on a landing with three people and screaming, “Help me! I’m being robbed!”
Weaver said Majors was “hanging onto her phone” when he tried to take it, according to the complaint.
Officials said they have evidence from videotapes, witness identification and DNA evidence from Major’s fingernail clippings linking Weaver to the crime.
The attack, two days before the start of final exams at the women’s school, troubled city residents because of its proximity to campus and its apparent randomness. Barnard is part of the Ivy League’s Columbia University.
February 14, 2020 of King of Prussia, PA. Dr. Hockman passed away peacefully in his home surrounded by his loving wife of 58 years, Lois (nee Altman), and his children. He was born in West Oak Lane to supportive parents, Louis and Rose, on May 22, 1933. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania School of Dentistry in 1957, he served in the United States Air Force and was honorably discharged as a Captain in 1959. Thereafter, he practiced dentistry in Norristown, PA for 53 years. In addition to his loving wife, he is survived by his son - Louis (Janet) Hockman, his daughter Lauren (Rocky) Becker, his adored grandchildren Mariel, Rachel, Julia, and Reid, and his sister - Joy Silverberg. His older brother, Norman, predeceased him. Relatives and friends are invited to memorial services Monday, 1:00 PM, Congregation Beth Or, 239 Welsh Road, Ambler, PA 19002. Interment is private. Shiva will be held immediately following services until 8 PM at the residence of Lauren and Rocky Becker. Contributions in his memory may be made to The Jewish Federation of Philadelphia or the Abramson Center at University of Pennsylvania.
www.levinefuneral.com