NYC teen who stabbed Barnard student Tessa Majors pleads guilty in killing
NEW YORK — The teenager who fatally stabbed Barnard student Tessa Majors in Morningside Park two years ago pleaded guilty to the murder on Thursday.
Rashaun Weaver, 16, admitted in Manhattan Supreme Court that he delivered the deadly wounds in the robbery gone wrong. He pleaded guilty to murder and robbery.
Weaver and two friends from school — Luchiano Lewis, 16, and a 13-year-old boy — went to the park near the Columbia University campus on Dec. 11, 2019, with the intention of mug someone, police said.
After first bothering a man and woman, the three turned their attention to Majors, an Ivy League freshman.
She was walking down the steps near West 116th Street and Morningside Drive when Weaver ran up behind her, kicked her in the back and demanded her money, Lewis said when he pleaded guilty in September.
“Rashaun started screaming, ‘Give me your money, run your pockets, I’m not playing,’” Lewis recalled.
During a struggle, Weaver stabbed Majors four times — including once in her heart, prosecutors said.
The brutality of the crime was shown in never-before-seen footage played during Lewis’ trial.
A disoriented, mortally wounded Majors is on camera sluggishly making her way up the steps to Morningside Drive near West 116th Street, the footage reveals. She takes out her cellphone to call an Uber and crumples to the ground beside a street lamp.
The 18-year-old Majors stumbled up to a university security booth, but the guard was out doing his rounds. He found her bleeding heavily when he returned, authorities said.
The judge has offered Weaver a sentence of 14 years to life, while Assistant District Attorney Matthew Bogdanos asked for at least 15 years behind bars.
At his sentencing of nine years to life in October, an emotional Lewis apologized to Majors’ father, who wept and became visibly overwhelmed as the teen spoke.
“As a human, I feel ashamed, embarrassed and sad at the role I played,” Lewis said in a statement, punctuated by long pauses. “I am deeply sorry for your loss. I hope after this you can accept my apology.”
The third boy who was there pleaded guilty to robbery in June 2020 and got the maximum for a minor — 18 months behind bars.
Weaver is set to be sentenced Jan. 19.
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