LONG WAIT FOR JUSTICE
Cops nab Tessa’s suspected killer, but free teen to seek more evidence
A 14-year-old boy identified as the prime suspect in the stabbing murder of a Barnard College student was questioned and then released hours later Thursday as investigators sought a warrant for his DNA, police sources said.
Cops tracked down the baby-faced suspect in the Bronx after he went on the lam rather than surrender as planned on Dec. 16, five days after the brutal killing of Tessa Majors, 18.
The teen was brought in for a sitdown with investigators at the 26th Precinct stationhouse, but no charges were leveled — though NYPD Chief of Detectives Rodney Harrison tweeted Thursday afternoon that the investigation remained “very active.”
“Our detectives are the best at what they do and are committed to finding justice for all parties involved,” Harrison said after the suspect and his attorneys were sent on their way.
A source with knowledge of the case said detectives believe the teen is the one who killed the college freshman but want a DNA match rather than relying solely on the testimony of a teen co-conspirator in the Morningside Heights slaying.
“Just because we let him go today doesn’t mean we’re not going to charge him at a later date,” a second NYPD source told the Daily News.
The slain Barnard student, stabbed so violently that feathers flew from her down jacket, may have bitten or scratched one of her attackers, the first source indicated.
The wanted teen was taken into custody in the Bronx around around 8 a.m. It was unclear if he was alone or with
somebody. Neighborhood Defenders confirmed it is representing the 14-year-old, but declined to comment on developments in the case.
“After being taken into custody, his attorneys were present at the 26th Precinct for the entire investigative process,” tweeted Harrison — an apparent reference to the mishandling of the Central Park Five case three decades ago.
The teen is suspected of fatally stabbing Majors in a Dec. 11 robbery gone wrong, police sources said. A 13-year-old suspect was taken into custody one day after the killing, and faces charges of murder, robbery and criminal possession of a weapon. He is currently in a juvenile detention facility and will be prosecuted in Family Court.
The 14-year-old was due to turn himself in 10 days ago, but his mother later told cops that the teen jumped out of a car as he was headed to see detectives, according to a law enforcement official.
The family has been uncooperative and it’s not clear if the teen really was on his way to meet police that night, the official said.
A police source said the 14year-old was bitten in the hand during his confrontation with Majors. Detectives believe his family was hiding him partly in hope the wound would heal before he was arrested, the source said.
Detectives are hopeful of getting DNA from both of the teens to see if a sample can be linked to evidence recovered from Majors’ body.
A third suspect was taken into custody on Dec. 13, then released because detectives at that point had nothing to tie the 14-year-old to the crime other than a confession by the 13-year-old.
As the investigation continued, faculty and staffers at Barnard College were receiving repugnant racist robocalls on the school’s phones in the wake of the killing, with administrators asking the NYPD to investigate, The News has learned.
An email went out Thursday to the Columbia University community, including Barnard, denouncing the messages and urging anyone who received one of the vile phone calls linked to the Majors murder to contact school officials.
“The contents of this message … are abhorrent and viciously racist,” read the terse five-sentence letter sent to the Columbia community. “We write to let you know that we are actively looking into this with the NYPD and are working to block the caller … We take this attack on our values very seriously.”
The letter asked anyone who had already received the message or was contacted going forward to let school officials know immediately. “Many faculty and staff landlines at Barnard” were targeted, while officials suspect the robocall went to a small number of employees at Columbia University, the Ivy League school affiliated with Barnard.