A 14-year-old boy was arrested by New York police, who suspects him of stabbing an 18-year-old student to death in a park in Harlem, a murder that caused a stir. The boy had been wanted for several weeks by the police, who arrested him Friday evening, without incident, said on Saturday February 15, the head of the NYPD, the New York police, Dermot Shea, at a conference.
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A first-year student at the prestigious Barnard University, Tessa Majors was allegedly attacked in Morningside Park by three teenagers who wanted to steal it. In this park that separates the university district from the rest of Harlem, the incident is said to have escalated, one of the attackers stabbing her before fleeing. The young woman died of her injuries in hospital soon after.
Quickly identified as the main suspect, the teenager was to report to the authorities in mid-December, but abruptly got out of the taxi which was taking him to the police station to be heard. " We are confident that the person currently in detention is the one who stabbed, " Tessa Majors, said Dermot Shea.
The teenager was charged this Saturday with intentional homicide and robbery, then placed in detention at the request of the prosecutor Cyrus Vance, who put forward the risk of escape. He will be presented to a judge on Wednesday, said prosecutor Vance. In this procedure, the adolescent will not be considered a minor from a criminal point of view, as permitted by New York state law.
A particularly sensitive matter
Cyrus Vance said that the investigation had brought together a series of elements implicating the suspect, including a video recording, testimony and DNA analysis. He also suggested that the suspect had incriminated himself during his hearing. An alleged accomplice, 13, was charged but will be tried in juvenile court.
The case is particularly sensitive as it involves a white victim and a minor black suspect. It echoes the famous scandal of the " Central Park Five ", which had seen five minority teenagers wrongly convicted for rape in Central Park, in 1989, of a white jogger, left for dead in the park.
Prosecutor Vance suggested that this explosive background explained, in part, why the suspect's charge took so long. " We are dealing with a 14 year old boy and we will take great care to preserve his rights, " said Cyrus Vance. “ I want New Yorkers to know that we are making a commitment to fairness in this matter. "