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When Tessa Majors, an 18-year-old student at Barnard College, was found murdered in Morningside Park in 2019, New York City responded with shock and grief.
For many, the brutal stab wounds were reminiscent of an earlier time, from the sudden violence of a crime against a young woman to fears that investigators would crack down on innocent people, as they did in the Central Park case. five decades earlier.
But Ms. Majors’ story was not a holdover from an earlier era: it was a twenty-first century tragedy. And on Tuesday, a 16-year-old pleaded guilty to her murder in Manhattan Criminal Court and described at length the encounter that led to her violent death on a cold December evening outside Morningside Park.
Luchiano Lewis, who was charged as an adult, pleaded guilty to second degree murder and first degree theft. He was immediately returned to custody pending sentencing on October 14. On the main charge, he faces a minimum of five years in prison and a maximum of life.
On Tuesday in a Manhattan courtroom, Judge Robert Mandelbaum asked Mr. Lewis if he was really guilty.
The teenager stopped, then said yes.
Prosecutors said Mr Lewis and another boy, Rashaun Weaver – along with their college classmate, who pleaded guilty to a charge of robbery as a minor – entered the park this December evening in looking for someone to steal.
Mr Weaver pleaded not guilty in February 2020. He has a court date of October 18 when a trial date is expected to be set. After Tuesday’s hearing, Mr Weaver’s attorney, Jeffrey Lichtman, reminded reporters that Mr Weaver and Mr Lewis were 14 years old at the time of the murder. “It was not a premeditated murder,” he said.
Some of Ms. Majors’ family were in the courtroom on Tuesday, and the family then released a statement thanking the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office and the New York Police Department.
“We remain committed to believing that all parties who bear responsibility for Tess’ senseless death will be held accountable, and we are deeply grateful to the many who continue to pursue this goal,” the statement said.
In court on Tuesday, Mr Lewis read a lengthy statement, his muffled voice shaking at times. He said he knew Mr. Weaver had a habit of committing thefts and that Mr. Weaver had repeatedly encouraged him to come to Morningside Park, with another of their classmates, to find people to steal.
Mr Lewis said he went there several times before meeting Ms Majors, only to back down, but that he, Mr Weaver and their friend attacked a man two or three weeks before the murder.
Prosecutors said college classmates considered multiple targets that December evening before choosing Ms Majors, a Virginia freshman and punk rock musician who had booked her first real New York gig a few months earlier. . Mr Lewis echoed this, saying that a man they decided to steal was too quick, and they ultimately gave up on chasing him.
He then described in detail the meeting with Ms Majors, claiming that Mr Weaver kicked Ms Majors in the back and yelled at her to give him her phone and money. He said Mr Weaver and Ms Majors fought at two separate locations before Mr Lewis saw a witness and urged his classmates to flee, adding that he was not sure exactly where he was when Mr. Weaver stabbed Ms. Majors.
Mr Lewis said on Tuesday that using a knife was not part of the classmates’ plan. He added that he didn’t know Ms Majors had been stabbed, let alone killed, until he checked an article on his phone the next day and saw a photo of the woman they had stolen.
Prosecutors said after Ms Majors fired back, biting one of the teenagers on the hand, Mr Lewis restrained her and Mr Weaver stabbed her multiple times. In his statement, Mr. Lewis did not describe any physical contact between him and Ms. Majors.
Ms Majors, whom a witness heard screaming for help, broke free of her attackers and, after climbing a flight of stairs, collapsed in a corner outside the park. She was found there, lying on her stomach and having already lost a significant amount of blood. She died in a local hospital; a medical examiner later found out that she had been stabbed multiple times in the chest, including a heart injury.
The next day, police questioned a classmate of Mr Lewis and Mr Weaver, telling him they had video footage and other evidence of the crime. The boy, whose name is withheld by The New York Times because he is a minor, confessed and was later sentenced to up to 18 months in a juvenile detention center. The sentence drew criticism from Ms Majors’ family, who released a statement saying: “There are no minor actors in the murder of Tess Majors.”
It was determined that Mr Lewis and Mr Weaver could be tried as adults – a matter of prosecutors’ discretion for teens charged with certain violent crimes. Cyrus R. Vance Jr., the Manhattan district attorney, said after Mr. Weaver was indicted that his office would take special care to protect the rights of teenagers.
Mr Lewis was arrested two months after the murder and charged with restraining Ms Majors to prevent her from escaping. He initially pleaded not guilty and was sentenced to be held without bail in a juvenile detention center.
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