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A6 U.S. NEWS
Monday 17 February 2020

14-year-old charged with

Barnard College student death

By JULIE WALKER and MI- of the crime and because witness identification and
CHAEL HILL he has been charged as DNA evidence from Major's
Associated Press an adult. Weaver's attor- fingernail clippings linking
NEW YORK (AP) — A ney, Elsie Chandler, did not Weaver to the crime.
14-year-old has been ar- immediately return a call to The attack, two days be-
rested in the fatal stabbing Neighbor Defender Service fore the start of final exams
Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance, Jr., briefs the media of a Barnard College stu- of Harlem seeking com- at the women's school,
on the arrest of a 14-year-old male in the Dec.2019 murder of dent in a park during a rob- ment. troubled city residents be-
Barnard College student Tessa Majors, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020
in New York. At left is NYPD Chief of Detectives Rodney Harrison bery in December, a crime "He's a 14-year-old child cause of its proximity to
and at right in New York City Police that rattled New York City and he's presumed not campus and its apparent
Commissioner Dermot Shea. residents, authorities said guilty," Chandler told the randomness. Barnard is
Associated Press Saturday. New York Post after Weav- part of the Ivy League's Co-
Rashaun Weaver has been er's bail hearing Saturday, lumbia University.
indicted by a grand jury at which he was ordered "This arrest is a major mile-
and was taken into cus- held without bail at a juve- stone on the path to justice
tody Friday night without nile facility until his arraign- for Tessa Majors," said Dis-
incident, New York City Po- ment Wednesday. trict Attorney Cy Vance.
lice Commissioner Dermot Majors was stabbed as she A 13-year-old who was
Shea said at a news con- walked through Morning- arrested Dec. 13 and
ference. side Park early the evening charged as a juvenile with
Weaver, charged with of Dec. 11. She staggered felony murder told detec-
second-degree murder up a flight of stairs to street tives he was at the park with
and robbery, is the second level and collapsed in a other youths but wasn't the
teenager to be charged in crosswalk. one who stabbed Majors.
the attack on 18-year-old A criminal complaint re- Vance said his office and
Tessa Majors in a Manhat- leased Saturday described the police are "in active in-
tan park. Majors as struggling on a vestigation in terms of other
"We are confident that we landing with three people suspects, and that will con-
have the person in custody and screaming, "Help me! tinue."
who stabbed her," Shea I'm being robbed!" Majors, of Charlottesville,
said. "And that person will Weaver said Majors was Virginia, played in a rock
face justice in a court of "hanging onto her phone" band and had told an edi-
law." when he tried to take it, ac- tor from a newspaper in-
The Associated Press is nam- cording to the complaint. ternship in high school that
ing the juvenile defendant Officials said they have she planned to take jour-
because of the seriousness evidence from videotapes, nalism classes in college.q

Judge: City can remove 176-year-old

slave auction block

FREDERICKSBURG, Va. (AP) about the auction block district and a point of inter-
— A judge has ruled that will replace it, the newspa- est on a tourist map. They
officials in a Virginia city per said. argued they will lose busi-
have the authority to ap- It wasn't immediately clear ness from tourist traffic if the
prove the removal of a when city officials plan to auction block is removed.
176-year-old slave auction move the auction block The businesses also argued
block from a street corner. to the Fredericksburg Area that the City Council's
Circuit Court Judge Sarah Museum powers are limited to only
Deneke's ruling on Friday Two businesses near the those expressly granted
upheld the Fredericksburg auction block, a restau- by the state. But the judge
City Council's vote in favor rant owner and commer- concluded that Freder-
of relocating the weath- cial building owner, sued icksburg's city charter was
ered stone to a local mu- to block the removal of granted by the state and
seum, The Free Lance-Star the slave auction block. gives it the authority to
reported. They said the block is listed control, manage and dis-
A kiosk with information as a landmark in a historic pose of its property.q