Eight days after Barnard College freshman Tessa Majors was slain in Morningside Park, police appear to be no closer to catching her killer.
Chief of Detectives Rodney Harrison provided little new information on the investigation during an appearance Thursday at One Police Plaza. Yet he remains “confident” cops would would capture all of the teens from the Dec. 11 robbery and stabbing death of Majors in Morningside Park.
Cops released one of the suspects last week, but said the probe is still in a delicate stage.
Police arrested a 13-year-old last week on a charge of murder for his part in the stabbing death, but released a 14-year-old suspect, pending further investigation.
A third suspect, 14, believed to have been Majors’ killer, who was supposed to have turned himself in, remains on the lam, police said.
The 13-year-old suspect was reportedly arrested still in possession of the knife used in the homicide.
“That might compromise the investigation. I don’t want to talk about that,” Chief Harrison replied to numerous questions about the probe. He added, “Once we have more people in custody, we will release that information.”
Harrison would also not discuss why Majors was in the park, or how the three suspects may have been connected.
Commissioner Dermot Shea, however, said he didn’t believe the three teens involved in the stabbing were involved in other robberies currently under investigation. He was particularly concerned in the uptick in robberies, up 2 percent, particularly in Manhattan and the Bronx involving groups of teens.
“We’ve seen a trend this year in teenage kids, particularly in Manhattan and a little in the Bronx, that’s where the spike in robberies has been,” Shea said. “That’s why it caused us to go from an all-time low to a small spike in robberies in NYC, and its fueled by, no doubt about it, robberies in Manhattan and robberies in the Bronx, and particularly with groups of teens.”
Shea cautioned other cops on making comments on the case.
“Anyone making comments on this case should think before they speak,” he warned, saying the wrong information can “compromise an investigation.”
Nearly a thousand people attended a candlelight vigil for Majors in Morningside Park on Sunday night.
