NYPD Takes 'Unusual' Step in Tessa Majors Case

The NYPD has released three photos of a teenage suspect in the Dec. 11 murder of a Barnard College student. Tessa Majors, 18, was fatally stabbed in Morningside Park during what police say was a robbery gone wrong; a 13-year-old allegedly linked to the attack is in custody but surveillance video shows he kept his distance as Majors struggled with two other youths. That teen says he and two of his 14-year-old classmates went into the park looking for someone to rob, and police have been searching for a 14-year-old suspect, who fled while en route to questioning. Another 14-year-old was also arrested last week but was released within hours after he stopped cooperating.

CBS News reports it's not clear which suspect is shown in the photos, but the New York Times reports the teen whose photo was released is the one who fled—and the one believed to have actually stabbed Majors. The newspaper calls the release of an underage suspect's photo "unusual" and a mark of the difficulty the department is having locating the teen; his name was not released. Anyone who recognizes him has been asked to call NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS. The 13-year-old suspect has been charged with second-degree murder, first and second-degree robbery, and criminal possession of a weapon; the next hearing in the case is scheduled for Jan. 2, per Fox News. (Much more on the case here.)