The 14-year-old suspect in the stabbing death of Barnard College student Tessa Majors was tracked down using electronic surveillance and was released pending the results of a DNA test.
Police had been searching for the teenager since the day after 18-year-old Tessa was attacked in Manhattan’s Morningside Park on December 11.
NYPD Chief of Detectives Rodney Harrison tweeted on Thursday morning that the boy had been found, before announcing just hours later that he had been questioned and released into the custody of his attorney.
Police sources told ABC News the teenager was found on Thursday morning in the Bronx.
The 14-year-old suspect (right) in the stabbing death of Barnard College student Tessa Majors (left) has been taken into custody after being on the run for two weeks
Police had been searching for the teenager since the day after 18-year-old Tessa was attacked in Manhattan’s Morningside Park on December 11
The teenager was located using electronic surveillance and was brought in. Pictures were taken of him, he was fingerprinted and a DNA sample was taken, according to police officials
He was located using electronic surveillance and was brought in. Pictures were taken of him, he was fingerprinted and a DNA sample was taken, according to police officials.
The teen was released to his family and attorney pending the results of the testing. Charges would not be filed pending the outcome of the tests, ABC reported.
In a tweet Harrison said: ‘We have located this individual. Thank you to everyone who reached out with information. This is an active and ongoing investigation.
‘If you have any information about this incident or any other crime in NYC call at 800-577-TIPS.
It’s believed three male juveniles were involved in the fatal attack on college freshman Majors, which occurred while she was making her way through the park shortly after dark.
According to the New York Daily News, detectives are in the process of obtaining DNA from the 14-year-old suspect to see if it can linked to samples recovered from Tessa’s body.
Sources say she may have bitten and scratched her assailants during the attack.
Police suspect that 14-year-old questioned on Thursday was the one who fatally stabbed Tessa, while the two other teenage boys were present at the time.
The 14-year-old suspect has been on the run ever since and bolted from a car on December 15 while being driven to the police station by an adult.
However, the New York Daily News reports that the teen’s family has been uncooperative, and that he may not have been en route to the station in the first place.
Police tracked down the teen after taking the unusual step last week of releasing photographs of him but not his name or any other identifying information given he is underage.
‘Earlier today, we announced that we located the 3rd subject in the Tessa Majors Investigation. This was a significant development in the investigative process,’ Harrison tweeted on Thursday.
‘After being taken into custody, his attorneys were present at the 26 precinct for the entire investigative process.
It’s believed three male juveniles were involved in the fatal scuttle with the college freshman, which occurred while she was making her way through the park shortly after dark
Majors was stabbed while walking in the park just before 7pm on December 11. She staggered up a flight of stairs to street level and collapsed in a crosswalk
‘Although he has since been released to the custody of his attorneys, the investigation remains very active. Our detectives are the best at what they do and are committed to finding justice for all parties involved.’
A police spokeswoman refused to answer questions about where and how the teen was located.
The New York Times reported he had been picked up in the Bronx.
Of the two other suspects, only one has been charged.
A 13-year-old boy arrested December 13 and charged as a juvenile with felony murder told detectives he was at the park with the other youths but wasn’t the one who stabbed Majors.
He is currently being held in a juvenile detention facility and investigators are also reportedly in the process of trying to get his DNA.
Her death has troubled city and college leaders, both for its proximity to campus and its apparent randomness
Meanwhile, the third juvenile suspect was questioned for several hours, also on December 13, but police let him go.
He has declined to say why that boy wasn’t charged.
Majors was stabbed while walking in the park just before 7pm – two days before the start of final exams at Barnard, which is an all-women’s school that is part of the Ivy League’s Columbia University.
She staggered up a flight of stairs to street level and collapsed in a crosswalk.
Her death has troubled city and college leaders, both for its proximity to campus and its apparent randomness.
Meanwhile, the incident has set off concerns about racial tensions in the area.
According to The New York Daily News, Barnard and Columbia staffers ‘received repugnant racist robocalls from white supremacists’ following Tessa’s death.
A letter was sent out by Columbia urging anyone who received the calls to report them.
‘We write to let you know that we are actively looking into this with the NYPD and are working to block the caller,’ they wrote, adding: ‘We take this attack on our values very seriously.’