The boy had been wanted for several weeks by police, who arrested him Friday evening without incident, NYPD chief, New York Police, Dermot Shea, told a conference on Saturday.
A freshman at prestigious Barnard University, Tessa Majors was allegedly attacked in Morningside Park by three teenagers who wanted to steal her.
PHOTO RICHARD DREW, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE ARCHIVES
Police search the crime scene in a park in the Harlem neighborhood.
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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 teen was scheduled to report to authorities in mid-December, but allegedly abruptly got out of the taxi that was taking him to the police station to be heard.
“We are confident that the person currently in custody is the one who stabbed Tessa Majors,” said Dermot Shea.
The teenager was charged on Saturday with intentional homicide and theft, then taken into custody at the request of prosecutor Cyrus Vance, who highlighted the risk of flight.
He will be presented to a judge on Wednesday, prosecutor Vance said. In this proceeding, the young person will not be considered a criminal minor, as New York State law permits.
Cyrus Vance said 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 incriminated himself during his hearing. A 13-year-old alleged accomplice has been 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 saw five teenagers from minorities wrongly convicted of rape in Central Park, in 1989, of a white jogger, left for dead in the park.
Prosecutor Vance hinted that this explosive backdrop explained, in part, why the suspect’s indictment took so long.
“We are dealing with a 14-year-old boy and we will pay great attention to preserving his rights”, assured Cyrus Vance. “I want New Yorkers to know that we are making a commitment to fairness on this file. ”
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